Butterflies' Flight
by reminiscent-afterthought
Summary: AU. Like butterflies, they followed the flame, drawn to his light, despite that fact that following so blindly could potentially lead to destruction. And yet they shy away from the dark, the one thing that may save them yet...
1. Prologue

**Author's Notes**

Hi (or Hi again). I wasn't planning to start this story now, but unfortunately, I lost all in-progress chapters that were stored on my USB. Luckily they're backed up on the school computer, but since I can't get to them till at least Monday, I just worked on this idea. Personally, I find it rather interesting, so I'd love to know what other people think.

This is an AU, so as per usual, there is a slight variation in character and character pasts. Takuya especially starts off OOC, but he'll get into character towards the middle, so don't worry, or complain about that. It's sort of the point. Some characters only change as much as other changes impact on them, while other changes drive the story in a separate direction to the frontier episodes. Plot also changes, quite drastically, at some point, so I'm curious to find out how many people manage to figure it out before the first chapter.

BTW, the analogy from which the title and summary is derived from was in one of the teacher's lectures. I found it quite interesting, so I borrowed it. This teacher doesn't teach me though, it was a one-time thing.

Anyway, enjoy, and R&R

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Digimon or the butterfly analogy. All I own is my writing and my trusty laptop.

* * *

**Butterflies' Flight**

AU. Like butterflies, they followed the flame, drawn to his light, despite that fact that following so blindly could potentially lead to corruption. And yet they shy away from the dark, the one thing that may save them yet...

Takuya K & Kouichi K

* * *

**Prologue**

The call was broadcasted rapidly. Within seconds, the message had reached every cell phone in Shibuya-ku and its neighbouring districts, and children all over were hurrying to follow the instructions given.

* * *

Shibiyama Junpei had been on the way home from the bakery when he received his message. One hand held the handles of his bicycle steady, while the other held the small portable device as brown eyes scanned the fine print.

_This is a game to determine your future. Are you willing to play?_

Two choices appeared below it: 'yes' and 'no', the 'yes' option selected. A simple press of the button would verify his accord.

It was strange though. It was a simple message, and yet it meant so much more. He could feel it, somewhere deep down, that whichever decision he made, it would be a life-changing one. It would be a game, yes, but it would be more than just that. It would be a game that actually counted for something, a game that would mean that something somewhere would change and would be determined. His future. He knew his future, and it was unfruitful. Any opportunity that came his way to change that, he would take it.

His finger hovered above the button. He knew if he pressed it now, there would be no turning back. Closing his eyes, he gave the matter one more moment of thought. Distantly, he could hear the thunder rumbling...well, the weather forecast had predicted a storm. He took a deep breath, letting his mind envision the future he felt himself to be heading towards. He saw himself, exactly as he was, a thirteen year old boy, slightly chubby, good at magic tricks, but friendless. Alone, apart from the parents he had never established a deep relationship with, rather choosing to indulge in chocolate and other edibles for the feeling of euphoria rather than human companionship, perhaps because his larger frame caused others his age to shun him. He was cowardly too, flinching at every flash of lightning, running from confrontation...and he could see himself in the future, alienated and left behind in his own insecurity as others advanced.

That was not the future he wanted. And if this gave him the opportunity to make something of it, then so be it. His brown eyes opened, eyebrows furrowing to give a hardened gaze as the extended finger descended upon the button, and with a small, satisfactory noise, the screen lit up.

_Good. Get to the Shibuya Station by six. Take the elevator to the basement._

He looked at his watch. It was 5:30, and it would take him around twenty minutes to cycle to Shibuya station at his leisure speed.

Sighing, he hoisted himself up, slipping his feet into the pedals and slipping comfortably into the seat, before tightly gripping the handle-bars and kicking off down a sloping road, cycling a bit before letting gravity take over.

* * *

Orimoto Izumi was just putting the finishing touches on a large, Italian style pizza when her cell phone beeped to alert her to the new message. Wiping her hands on a towel, she opened up the message, her green eyes scanning over its content.

_This is a game to determine your future. Are you willing to play?_

Two choices appeared below it: 'yes' and 'no', the 'yes' option selected. With a simple press of the button, she could select the path in which she belonged.

It was something out of the ordinary, an opportunity that she could grasp with both hands. It meant something, there was something calling her.

She was silent, listening to the wind whistling outside. She could be free, like that. She could follow the path of destiny and find a path where she belonged, and meant something. Her future...it was more than a pointless game, because the prize was something she wanted to attain. To determine her future...she was willing, willing to play and take a hand to change her future.

Because she wanted to belong, but she was adamant against changing who she was.

She pressed the button, and the screen lit up, displaying a new message.

_Good. Take the train on the Yamanote line Tokyo bound. Disembark at Shibuya station, and then take the elevator to the basement._

She glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece. That train would be leaving in a few minutes. She'd have to hurry if she wanted to catch it.

And so hurried she did.

* * *

Himi Tomoki found himself corned by two older boys when the three received messages, saving the young brunette from what would have otherwise been a fierce beating. He pulled the phone from its confines within a pocket in his pants, and opened it up to read the new message.

_This is a game to determine your future. Are you willing to play?_

A game? His childish curiosity was spiked by these words. And it was only slightly quelled by the following words. His destiny...he looked at the two bullies in front of him, reading and pondering over their own messages, before turning back to his own. He wanted to play...to change, to not cower and falter in front of those who wished to hurt him, to have the freedom that he lacked, to see the outside world so that he could mean something in the eyes of a brother who thought so little of him...

It could be a hoax, but he didn't think so. It was a simple message, but it sparked something inside of him. He felt cold suddenly, like tundra of ice had pierced through his heart, but it was comforting...and it was strong.

He wanted to be like that too. Ice...strong, with so much potential which could be tapped into...

He wanted a future like that, rather than the one he saw in front of him, cowering behind those with more power, as his brother had repeatedly claimed.

He glanced at the screen, seeing two options beneath the message, 'yes' and 'no', the 'yes' option already selected. Without another hesitation, he pressed the button, sealing his accord.

_Good. Get to Shibuya Station by six. Take the elevator to the basement._

He stood. They were in Shibuya Park now. The walk to the station would take around ten minutes, twenty at most, and so he slipped passed the older boys immersed with their own cell phones, and began the solitary trek. He didn't look back, and so didn't notice the other two boys following him.

* * *

Kanbara Takuya was glaring sourly at the birthday cake in front of him while listening to the one-sided argument on the phone when his phone beeped to alert him to an incoming message. Brown eyes flew over the text, the glare lessening slightly in intensity as he words registered in his mind.

_This is a game to determine your future. Are you willing to play?_

His future? He glanced at his mother, the auburn haired woman still yelling something into the land-line phone, before turning brown eyes back to the cell phone in his hand. His future?

He had never given that much thought about his future. It had always seemed so far and unattainable. For instance, barely a few months back, he had never dreamed his parents would ever fall out of love, and now they were arguing constantly, and it had even gone so far as to consider a divorce.

His father was at work, again. Increased criminal activity had taken him far from home into remote regions of Tokyo once again. And his little brother, Shinya, lay on the mat, playing with his latest toy and completely oblivious to all the problems of life.

But he was older. He knew. And he hated it. And he wanted the power to change it. The power to control these circumstances and oppress those responses undesirable. He wasn't used to it; before, he had been carefree, happy...now it seemed, everybody's boundaries were tested in a way he detested.

He hated it; he wanted the power to control it, rather than being a bystander unable to make a difference. And this, this opportunity, it felt as though it would give him that chance.

He glanced at the remainder of the message, at the two options which appeared beneath it. 'Yes', which was highlighted, and 'no'.

He pressed yes, and then waited, as the screen lit up again.

_Kanbara Takuya..._

He looked around. For a moment, the domestic scene of his house had vanished, to be replaced by a chamber shining brightly with light, so brightly that it was burning his eyes and blurring his vision. Something flashed through his mind, too quickly to decipher, before it faded away, leaving him feeling slightly different, but not wholly wrong.

He looked at the new message.

_Very good. Catch the 5:45pm Tokyu-Toyoko train from Jiyugaoka station. Disembark at Shibuya Station, then take the elevator to the basement._

He stood, the wooden chair scraping behind him. Distantly, he heard his mother call out to him, but he ignored her, grabbing his hat and goggles off the chair before stepping over his brother's form and heading for the door.

Shinya stared, slightly blankly at his brother's retreating back. His brother sometimes got annoyed with him, but he was kind, and generally cheerful. Though, with his parents fighting often, some of that cheerfulness had faded, but he had never seen his elder brother seem so...cold, stepping over him as if he had never even been there.

He didn't like it. Not one little bit.

* * *

Kimura Kouichi glanced around the corner at the flower shop across the street and a few blocks down. Through the glass, he could see various flowers: roses, carnations, lilies...and he could see a boy whose face was identical to his own inspecting them.

Minamoto Kouji...he had been following him for awhile now, trying to grasp an opportunity to talk to him, to tell him, and to fulfil his grandmother's last wish. Her dying words echoed in his mind as he steadied his nerves, and took a deep breath, before crossing the street and entering the shop.

The lady at the counter was preparing a bouquet, but aside from the three of them, the small store was empty. Shyly, hat down to cover his facial features, Kouichi walked up to the other boy.

'Are you Minamoto Kouji?' he asked, trying to keep a tremor out of his voice.

Kouji turned, glaring slightly as he replied in the affirmative. 'What about it?' he asked immediately afterwards, slightly suspicious as to why a complete stranger knew his name. Normally, he would had simply ignored him, but something inside wouldn't let.

The other boy gave a deep breath before replying. 'My name is Kimura Kouichi. Does that mean anything to you?'

Kouji's confusion grew, as did his frustration. 'No' was his short and sweet answer.

Kouichi shook his head slightly. 'I didn't think so..,' he sighed. 'I know this sounds strange, but-'

He was suddenly cut off by a phone beeping. Turning away to show this conversation was done, Kouji pulled his cell phone from a jacket pocket and flipped it open, displaying a new message.

_This is a game to determine your future. Are you willing to play?_

Two choices appeared below it: 'yes' and 'no', the 'yes' option selected. All he had to do was press the button, and the deal would be sealed.

He pondered a moment. He had his father, his stepmother, and his dog, but he was neither content nor satisfied. It always felt as though something was missing, something was calling him...and he wanted, no, needed to know what. He thought of his mother, her picture being the only thing left of her, and the loneliness he had all but forced upon himself.

He could go on the way he was, but he was dissatisfied. He wanted answers, and despite the fact that he didn't allow himself to get close to anyone, he longed for companionship. And something told him that this would provide him that.

He had all but forgotten about the other boy as he pressed the button and verifying his choice. The screen lit up, displaying a new message.

_Good. Get to Shibuya Station by six. Take the elevator to the basement._

He looked up to the clock on the wall. 5:43. Two minutes before the train to Shibuya would disembark from Jiyugaoka station.

'Flowers are ready,' the lady at the counter said, holding out the finished bouquet. Kouji tore his eyes from the clock, a fleeting reminder of his parents' anniversary, before he pushed it away.

'I'll pick them up later,' he called, racing out the door as the woman's expression turned baffled. He was too preoccupied to hear the soft footsteps behind him.


	2. Darkness and Flame

**Author's Notes**

Just in context, Kouichi and Takuya knew each other before going to the Digital World. They were actually good friends for a while, but lost contact later on. Which is why Kouichi recognizes him in the first paragraph.

As for Takuya's character there is a reason for it, which if you couldn't pick up in last chapter or this, will be made more explicit later on. Though I'll tell you right now that it's not purely because his parents are going through a rough patch. And it's not 100% his usual behaviour.

And just remember that despite other characters playing a role, this story primarily focuses on Takuya and Kouichi, being the two main characters, and to some extent Kouji as well, so the others aren't mentioned as much. Not like Desperation, where I'm trying to develop all the characters.

A few more (minor) changes:

(1) the fractal code (English version)/digi-code (Japanese version) has here been replaced by 'binary code'. When you get down to the root of it, it does pretty much the same function, but the reason I changed the name will become apparent later on when the full nature of it and the origins of the digital world and digimon are explained. (I suppose that's a job for Bokomon.) However one important difference to note is that the code isn't scanned into the D-scanner as a blue strip of data, and they don't have to say 'fractal-code digitize' or whatever they say in the Japanese Version (I wouldn't know, the only Japanese episodes I've seen didn't involve scanning digi-code), it is automatically transmitted to their D-scanners as their physical form collapses. For the rendering, see (4)

(2) I know Cherubimon is evil in the original version (or well brainwashed by Lucemon I guess) but in this story he's not. In fact, I'm still considering whether or not it's even worth bringing Lucemon into this story.

(3) The place where Kouichi went to after his fall down the stairs: I've seen it call many different names, like the Dark Area and the 'buffer', but I personally like to call it the 'transition zone', as in a transition phase between two worlds, or between life and death, so that is what it's going to be called in this story.

(4) In the original, digimon, when their data is scanned and purified, their digiegg goes to the Village of Beginnings to be reborn. However in this story, the D-scanners do not actually purify the data, but stores it. When it is 'rendered' or released, it works its way back into the framework of the digital world, where it, similar to the original, used to rebuild the ravished land. However, the part of the data which made up the digimon's core structure and personality is stored in what is called the 'Primary Database' from which it is then reformatted and eventually released into the Village of Beginnings for rebirth. The purification phase in which the evil data is scanned and the digimon reverts back to their good self does not exist here. So the digimon dies.

(5) the digimon don't speak Japanese, however the children are able to understand them because it is instantly converted into speech they understand. It's part of the Digital World's framework. As such, the Japanese phrases and suffixes are only scarcely used by the Japanese kids.

I think that was it for now. A bit confusing, but since it's an AU, I took some liberty to change some things. Doesn't mean I like the original any more or less, I just wanted to change it. So don't flame me for that, please. That happened last time, which is why I've tried to explain the changes this time before actually making them in the chapter.

Despite the changes, this chapter is quite heavily based on episode 1-The Legendary Warrior! Agunimon of Flame (English Dub: All Aboard) and the flashbacks from episode 22-My Home! Takuya's Lonely Return (English Dub: Home Again, Takuya Returns).

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Digimon or the butterfly analogy. All I own is my writing and my trusty laptop.

Sorry for the long author's note, and the long wait, and enjoy everyone.

* * *

**Butterflies' Flight**

AU. Like butterflies, they followed the flame, drawn to his light, despite that fact that following so blindly could potentially lead to corruption. And yet they shy away from the dark, the one thing that may save them yet...

Takuya K & Kouichi K

* * *

**Chapter 1 – Darkness and Flame**

Kimura Kouichi clutched the ring attached to the train roof with both hands as it, as in the train, sped towards Shibuya station. Blue eyes were trained on the other boy, Minamoto Kouji, leaning by the door, only partially visible due to the sheer number of passengers between the two. Most were nameless, faceless to him, he didn't recognise them. All of them, but two. The one he was trying to reach, and another who was seated on the floor, his back against the opposite door. Kanbara Takuya.

Kouji wore his cold exterior as always, contradicting to the blinding warmth radiating from the other. Though it seemed to him, as an outsider observing, that both were facades; neither of them reflected the truth they concealed inside.

He knew one from observation; the other from experience and previous association, though both stood out like beacons in the throng. But even as he refocused his gaze upon the one he was following, the doors slid open at the station, and he lost sight of them both as the passengers swept out.

He managed to push his own way through the crowd, frantically searching for the blue bandana which, if nothing else, should be easily recognisable in the mass of brown and black. Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy, there were far too many people.

One chance had already slipped through his fingers; who knew how many more he would get. He couldn't really afford to lose another, especially as this, this meeting, was so important to him. After all, only with this confrontation, could he at least attempt to mend hearts that were broken years ago.

There! A speck of blue and brown. He raced after it, weaving through people who were mostly inconsequential at the current time, trying to reach him. Quickly, he validated his ticket, the gates opening to grant him access, and he raced through them, eyes darting around before locking on the boy who was now at the elevator.

'Kouji!' he exclaimed, putting on an extra burst of speed as he rushed for the elevator. He didn't add a suffix; it just felt wrong.

Regardless, not even the extra speed got him to the elevator in time, the doors closing just as he slammed into them just after a blur of red slipped in. He despaired slightly, only a moment, before he turned towards the numbers flashing before his eyes. 1...B1...B2...

He snapped his head towards the stairs, before making a split second decision and taking off. He didn't fully grasp why it felt that he may never get another chance, but it did, and so he continued his relentless pursuit.

He flew down one flight of stairs, turning sharply at a landing before continuing his race down a second flight. Though one consequence always came with speed: clumsiness, and as such, it was rather predictable, and unavoidable, that he lost his footing on a step. His ankle twisted awkwardly, the sudden lack of balance pitching him forward, and before he could even think of regaining it, he saw the ground rushing up to meet him.

A blinding pain overcame him suddenly, too much to be able to pinpoint its origin, and it was all he could do to fight the sudden unconsciousness that threatened to seize him. For a moment, he could see faceless people hovering over him, nameless...a businessman in a pressed suit, two grade school girls whom he felt he should have recognised, and to the side, a mother holding her child close and staring in shock.

'Kou...ji...' he managed to utter, before, despite his best efforts, his eyelids slipped closed.

* * *

Minamoto Kouji's head suddenly snapped up. Why, he did not know; he had simply been focused on ignoring his temporary companion, his aura radiating distrust, when his heart suddenly skipped a beat before returning to its usual, calm process of contraction and relaxation at its usual consistent pace.

He lifted his eyes, blue, crystalline and cold, staring at the steel confines in which he and his companion were currently confined to. For a moment, he was seeing metal, before it suddenly turned transparent.

The other boy turned as well, picking himself up off the ground onto which he had fallen. His eyes, as opposed to the other's, were brown, bright, and slightly hypnotizing, though one trait the two boys shared in regards to their eyes. It is said, and widely believed, that the eyes are the window to the soul. However, neither of the two boys seemed to validate that view.

Although neither was looking the other in the eye at that current time; both were focused on the scene in front of them. The metallic finish of the elevator had turned into glass, transparent yet oddly bright, as if light itself had shaped its image.

Blue eyes were forced to squint slightly at the glare reflecting of the transparent glass, the elevator, and even the lenses of the other's goggles, but the other was unaffected. Had he noticed, he would most certainly described it as odd, but as it was, his mind didn't quite register it till much later, when it had almost been too late.

Regardless, while the glass itself was clear, what lay behind it was fogged with activity and confusion. The elevator slid to a stop and the doors opened, admitting its passengers, though neither moved.

It seemed to one a confinement, while to the other, a way for freedom. To them both, it was a way to truth, a way to completion. But they were then too ignorant to know the more intricate details of the complex game of which they were only pawns.

And unfortunately for them, it was only when it was almost too late did they finally become aware.

There were trains on the platforms, but they looked nothing like normal trains. Each has its own sense of definition, a uniqueness that set them apart from each other despite the collectiveness they shared.

There were children too, each attracted to a certain train, though whether it was because of the glamour of their appearance or their inward appeal that attracted them was anyone's guess. As it was, they huddled on their chosen platforms, some boarding the train while others simply looked on, the air around them filled with unnecessary chatter and a sense of light heartedness that the two still standing in the elevator lacked.

For them all, it was just a circular journey. They would go, return, and then progress with their daily lives as per normal. But for few others, including the two in the elevator, it was a journey that would change their lives forever.

He could feel that; they both could. And they were both in a way attracted towards a platform. The same platform, yet two different trains which stood waiting at either side.

They could feel something calling for them, something which linked to the very essence of their soul, as if a part of themselves had been lost and they were now getting an opportunity to gain it.

That may as well have been true, as one boy had lost a brother whom he should have grown alongside and a mother who should have watched with a content smile, while the other, in the midst of fighting and favouritism had lost the boisterous attitude and fulfilment that had once defined him, and while his sense of justice was still strong, it seemed as though it had warped his view of the world into a corrupt vision which could only to be fixed by power and control.

They were so similar, and yet so different, as it was their innate disposition, that they had both pressed dormant, that defined them. The dormancy which when rearing its head above the definite levels into regions of doubt, sets them apart before bringing them together.

Such was the nature of the web in which they found themselves trapped, so complex in nature that not even those who thought they had control knew the extent of the possibilities that could occur.

But there were those who were willing to try. And this time, it was someone who had guided them here with her light.

_It is up to you now. Which one will you choose?_

The message appeared on two different cell phones, one white, the other black. From both, the message shone bright like a homing beacon calling wayward travellers to a safe haven, raw with power and bright with light.

The power attracted one, the light another. All in all, it came to the same ending, as one left the other and boarded his chosen train without any more hesitation, gripping the railings firm as his black hair whipped behind him.

For him, the choice was easy. There was nothing that really compelled him to stay while his heart was inexplicably drawn to something. Even later on he would not be able to describe exactly what had attracted him, but he could say this for sure: something had called him.

For the other, who still remained at the elevator, it was not so simple. Much of him leaned towards the prospect of going, with the opportunity it was providing him, though thinking back, he would realise his thoughts had been far from rational. But as it was, he could feel the power from the mysterious messenger, feel the power the trains harboured, the power which could shape life itself if wielded properly...the power which could bring about change to a corrupt world.

But a small part of him protested. An echo of the young, cheerful boy who had vanished years ago; a twisting gut feeling telling him something was wrong, something he should be able to see.

But even as he looked, the feeling vanished, and he ran towards his own train of choice.

And as he gripped the rails, the trains started moving, and the two who had shared the fateful elevator ride together crossed paths once more.

This time, their eyes met. The unnaturally bright, alluring brown clashing with the icy cold blue. The coldness was slightly unsettling, but not so much so that it was panic-worthy as the brown eyes closely examined the other as if someone else were seeing the other beyond his eyes as they grew ever so slightly brighter, piercing into the other's soul.

It did, however, perturb the other, not only because he trusted very few people but also because of the gripping quality his eyes held, the shining brightness which pierced through his very soul. Perhaps it was the uncomfortable feeling of such an action, which in Japanese society was considered rather rude and an invasion of personal space, or something else which he would not know till far later, he unnerved him.

The two trains forked on their paths as a tunnel erected a solid barrier between the two, effectively cutting off the eye contact even as brown eyes followed the other's path as if seeing through the wall. There was something about him that the brunette felt could be rather troublesome, and the thought moulded into his mind so perfectly that he didn't even pause to consider its origins.

He turned and entered the carriage, seeing three other children, two, a boy and girl about a year apart, seated across from each other in the same carriage he stood in while the other, the youngest, was sitting, and sniffling, in the adjacent one.

The brunette closed the door behind him and entered, looking over the passengers. In truth, he felt far more comfortable with them than the previous boy, though the eldest boy seemed to radiate an aura of friendlessness, similar but not to the extent of the boy in the elevator.

'So,' he began, feeling the need to talk and compress the unofficial barriers of anonymity that separated them. 'Why'd you get on this train?'

The boy looked up, before extracting a bar of chocolate and unwrapping it. 'Look kid,' he began, slightly coldly, 'it was closest to the elevator, okay? Now leave me alone.'

He got the feeling that the attitude was more from a lack of friendship than a lack of want, so he, for the moment, let it go, instead turning to the girl, whose was playing with her blonde hair.

Though he also got the feeling he wasn't being entirely honest.

'And you?' he asked.

'It's Izumi,' she said in a manner which showed her to be rather unused to Japanese Customs. 'And I'm like him. It was closer to the elevator.'

Neither was she, but once again, he let it go, knowing it would be rather unwise to push at such an early stage.

'Hey, check this out,' the other boy said, looking around Takuya, making him turn to face him with a perfectly amiable expression as he himself offered the chocolate bar in his hand to the girl he sat across.

'Hey, want some chocolate?' he asked in a manner which one, especially a girl, would define as flirtatious. It seemed as the girl addressed agreed, as she turned away, slightly disgusted, though honoured, with a muttered 'no thanks.'

The three then simultaneously turned to their last companion, the smaller brunette who was still sniffling. Feeling the other's stares on him, he introduced himself, bowing as well as he could for one in his position. 'I'm Himi Tomoki,' he sniffled. 'And I didn't want to get on this train.'

He then proceeded to explain how he two older kids had shoved him on for their own amusement, and from the way he talked, it seemed as though occurrences like this happened often.

The sight made Takuya's blood boil; more evidence that the world needed straightening up. 'Hey look Himi-kun,' he said gently, feeling the need to comfort him while at the same time quelling his own emotions. 'I'll look after you now, so you don't have to worry about them, 'kay?'

He smiled through his tears. 'Okay...by the way, what's your name?'

He smiled back, looking almost like his old self for a moment, glad the other had cheered up, before answering the question. 'Kanbara Takuya.'

The train suddenly lurched, and the four were unceremonially tossed to the ground. Upon reflex, they instantly grabbed a hold of something, whether that be pole, chair or chair leg, a reflex which proved rather useful as the train lurched once again.

Everything was spinning suddenly, as though two totally opposing things were melding together. Thinking back, they would probably agree that they were, but at the time, they lacked sufficient knowledge to be able to deduce the fact that they were passing through the transition zone between two worlds.

For a moment, everything flickered, and it was as though they could each see everything in binary code, zeroes and ones covering their sight, but it was so brief, so instantaneous, that the sight had not even registered before their visions were consumed in light and they lost consciousness.

* * *

Kouichi's eyes flickered open slowly as he slowly stared at his surroundings. He was surrounded by darkness, though not completely so as it seemed a small sliver of light somewhere existed, enough for him, at least, to see his own outline, and while it was to an extent comforting, it was rather panic worthy, especially as pain was the last thing he remembered before losing consciousness.

He found himself standing alone, surrounded by nothing else save flashing memories of his past, or more specifically, those which remembrance of pained him.

He could feel the dam of his own pent-up emotions; a dam which was, figuratively speaking, ready to burst. He was, due to the circumstances of his life, quiet by nature, keeping his own problems and feelings inside when he knew he couldn't add to his mother's problems. He listened when she needed it, and later too others too as they became increasingly attracted to his gentle and understanding nature. And while that was by no means a crime on others, it was on himself, as while he listened to others, he shouldered their burdens as well as his own.

Here though, he was alone. There was no one to hurt if the dam of emotion he contained broke. Though his self restraint had always been strong, being in such a place, seeing it all, simply snapped the ropes holding his pent up emotions in check.

And that was something that under any other circumstance, he would have regretted.

He felt grief and pain consume him, grip his soul even as its sharp claws threatened to tear him apart. He screamed as the pain filled his mind, though he soon lacked the presence of mind to realise it. As though his very soul was being viciously torn from his body, even as his surroundings changed to pure blackness. Somewhere down the track, he couldn't be sure where, it became rage and anger at the world in general and the unfairness, and all rational thoughts were obliterated in favour of the overflowing dam of emotions raging out of control.

He could feel nothing; see nothing save the darkness he was surrounded by. At that instant, he was aware of nothing save his own emotion. But just as suddenly as it had come about him, it had disappeared, leaving his mind exhausted from the mental onslaught while the tears fled down his cheeks even as his consciousness left him once more.

* * *

Takuya groggily opened his eyes, pulling himself into a sitting position while rubbing his head where he had hit it. Oddly enough, he could not for the life of him recall what he had seen after he had closed his eyes, something which wouldn't have mattered all that much except he felt he was forgetting something important. Sounds and words were too unable to be recalled, except the two phases which rang in his ears as he awoke.

_You are flame. You lead, and they will follow you blindly._

Around him, his companions were also stirring awake, having all fallen into the same compartment, and their cell phones had flown from their places, either previously clutched by its owners' hands or from a pocket in which it had been tucked.

The four kids moved almost simultaneously to pick them up from where they had slid under the seats, but even as their fingertips brushed against the smooth surface, a flash of light emitted from each before they transformed, moulding themselves into hand-held devices which snugly fit into their respective owners' grasps.

The last of the binary code fled from the screen as the children picked them up. Each had a different colour scheme: Takuya's was red with black grips, Izumi's was a light shade of purple with darker grips, Tomoki's was a pale blue with green grips, while the last, Junpei's, was a base blue with yellow grips.

Each seemed to fit the person that held them, except Takuya's whose seemed only the slightest bit foreign. So slight however, that it went unnoticed even as the screens simultaneously lit up, an unfamiliar symbol too all save Takuya who unconsciously recognised it, appeared.

_Welcome, Chosen, to the Digital World._

The four, forgetting the anonymity that still existed between them, glanced at one another. Digital World? Chosen? Just what had they gotten themselves into?

Too all but the goggle-wearing brunette, these were the questions that occupied their mind after hearing their welcome. Takuya by no means knew the answers, but his attention at that time had majorly been taken up by the female voice which echoed in his ears, and even outside, as other three had heard her too. The same voice which had called to him in the real world, and again just before he awoke...and had said more, though he could not remember it.

The whistle of the train caught their attention, and the four turned to look out of the windows. Little marshmallow-like creatures floated in the air, which immediately attracted the attention of the only female in the group.

'How cute,' she squealed, pressing her face against the glass and attracting the attention of the creatures she was complimenting. One decided to copy her, pressing itself flat against the window on the other side, thus succeeding in redefining the word cute.

The sun shone brightly through the windows, but Takuya's attention was drawn to the general landscape of the world in which they now were and the turmoil it exhibited. From up close, it seemed normal, but at the distance the four were know, it became apparent that the land was incomplete. While patches were bright with life, other areas were decayed and spoilt, clouded in the dust particles floating in the light wind, the lush greenness of its outskirts, and the shadows created by the skilfully avoiding light.

'All the world's a stage' said Shakespeare, and it was true. Just some parts more so than most, so as such the spotlights shining upon the beauty of the foreign world grew curious gazes away from the less appealing areas, and even as he blinked, they shimmered and disappeared as if an illusion.

Only, it had left a far too lasting impression for it to be so, as even as his gaze followed the landscape as they neared what appeared to be a station, he could see the destruction wrought behind it.

So similar to the Real World, where such corruption was always covered up, and thus most remained woefully ignorant while the few who were not carried the burden of knowledge upon their involvement. Even more so when such knowledge imprinted itself on a young mind and changed one's outlook so drastically that the result became almost unrecognisable.

But all that was pushed aside momentarily as the train pulled up at the station, and none to gently, disposed of its passengers.

'Hey!' Junpei cried out in indignation as he was sandwiched under the three younger.

'Hey yourself,' the train retorted. 'I've got a schedule to keep.'

And while the talking train rendered the other three speechless, for reasons he was yet to understand, or even acknowledge the necessity of, Takuya was not. It had not been wholly unexpected, for he felt that somehow he had known the train was capable to intelligent speech, and although the memory only presented itself due to the presented stimuli, the knowledge had, for some currently unknown reason, existed.

At the time he brushed it off, assuming it to be a forgotten dream or the likes. And ironically enough, he had not been far from the truth, though the dream itself was far from its usual definition, even as the eldest brunette questioned his sanity upon hearing a train talk, upon which the indignant train responded to, introducing itself as Worm the Traimon in the process.

'We all heard it,' Takuya sighed, getting up and turning to help Tomoki. Then raising his voice slightly, he called out to the retreating train. 'Excuse me, do you know how we can get back to where we came from?'

'Gotta find a spirit or something,' Worm replied, backing out. 'Best of luck.'

'Hey, wait a second!' Izumi exclaimed, standing and brushing aside Junpei's help to do so. Too late, the Trailmon had already departed. 'Oh great, now what?'

'Well,' Takuya said calmly, walking a few paces in a seemingly random direction. 'I guess we find a spirit.'

'How can you say that so calmly?'

He shrugged, not really knowing. Then suddenly turned back as the youngest out of the four began to cry for home.

The other two, being unfamiliar in such situations, simply stared blankly at one another, before trying to the best of their ability to comfort him, although the attempts proved rather unsuccessful. Takuya watched for a minute, for the first time drawing a resemblance between him and his own little brother, which then reminded him of how coldly or cruelly he acted at times towards him. But it also brought back more fonder memories, of his brother's smile when the two played together happily, and of his admiration when he talked about how proud he was of having a brother like him. But then that adversely brought back the memories of his tears when he wailed of the unfairness, and the hatred which was poorly labelled as such and quickly diminished.

'Don't worry,' he said, gently yet assertively to show he meant with his heart every word he said. 'The Trailmon said if we find a spirit, we can go home, right?'

The other sniffled. 'Right.'

'So then, all we have to do is find one.'

He brightened. 'Like a game?'

Takuya chucked. 'Right. Like a game.'

'Okay.' The tears stopped at the happy, innocent prospect, and for a moment, all was peace, till screams of fear shattered it.

'What the-'

The four instantly turned in that direction, only then noticing, but in the current situation being forced to ignore, the queer creatures that had surrounded them before the screams, or else the source of them, had forced them to flee beneath the platform.

Green light suddenly blazed from the direction, and the sense of danger sent the four children scattering as they dove to avoid the emerald blaze which, had they been seconds late, would have devoured them. As it was, the temperature rose several degrees which made them, even in their autumn clothing, perspire slightly under the thin layers.

Diving out of the way as they had, the kids found themselves separated by the melted crevice created by the flames, Izumi and Junpei on one side, to the girl's relief, separated by a few inches, while Takuya found himself on the other, with a heavy load on his back, far too heavy for an eight year old alone.

'Oh sorry, so sorry,' someone apologized rather profusely, before the additional weight was suddenly removed, allowing the goggle-wearing boy to sit up and observe the two strange creatures which had landed on his back. One which looked like a little white gnome, while the other to some extent represented a yellow rabbit in red pants.

A strange humming filled his ears, which he had originally blamed on the fall, only it seemed far too prolonged and persistent to be such. In fact, the longer he heard it, it seemed less like his head buzzing, and more like something was calling out to him...

_The Spirit of Flame..._

Again, the knowledge came to him upon command, though he knew not how. And though it had diverted his attention away from the two rather odd looking creatures to the direction they had emerged from, he was not much better off in terms of understanding.

The spirit though, he assumed it was the same as the train-like creature had mentioned, the one which could help them get home.

He suddenly became aware that two black eyes were glaring from the dying embers of the emerald flame, even as its last remnants faded away showing the destroyed portion of the station, or what they assumed to be one.

The sight angered him, the place so carelessly destroyed for no good reason. 'Who are you?' he demanded. 'And what do you want?'

'I am Cerberumon,' it growled in response, its black, dog-like body coming into view as the dust kicked up from the destruction faded, along with the white claws hard enough to claw through even the toughest metal alloy. 'And I have been commanded by Master Cherubimon to destroy the Spirit of Flame.'

The black eyes focused on him, the yellow surrounding them making it seemed even more formidable an opponent, especially as he had no weapon to fight with.

But if that spirit was as important as it felt, and seemed, there was no way he could let it be destroyed.

And he could feel that presence, stronger than ever, calling out to him.

As if it was saying, it belonged to him.

'You'll have to get through me first,' he declared, not pausing to think through the repercussions of his statement till it was already out of his mouth.

The dog-like digimon growled, before releasing another burst of flame with a cry of 'Hellfire', its targets being the human child who had dared to defy him. The flames burnt through what was left of the platform, and the tracks, causing the two halves to cave into one another, and those standing to lose their footing as the ground beneath them shook.

Beside them, where the flames had burnt away the large boiler, a column of blue fire suddenly arouse. For a moment, it was the object of all attention as it revealed a certain object, gleaming with the fire that bathed it.

'The Spirit of Flame,' Cerberumon growled, turning away from the humans to face it, before recoiling at the heat blistered his skin, even as it immediately regenerated moments later. 'It's hot,' he hissed.

'It doesn't feel hot,' Takuya murmured, more to himself than to anyone else, being the same distance as the other yet physically fine, though the call had grown far stronger.

Something beeped, and the object flashed in response, even as the cylindrical column of fire grew and surrounded him, causing the dog creature to back away. Luckily, the others had removed themselves from harm's way and were now on higher ground, else they would have been devoured, if not by the snarling hell hound, then by the flames which grew in both size and strength.

Safely in the middle, he stared in awe at the object he now identified as the Spirit of Flame. For a moment, it seemed a great fire warrior had awoken, walking to, and then right through, him, and then it was as if the fire itself had become a part of him, and he heard the words spill from his mouth as if he had always known it, and it had always been a part of him.

'Execute, Spirit Evolution. Agunimon.'

All stared in awe at the transformation, the human turned digimon, though Cerberumon's awe was doused in his failure to destroy the spirit.

'The spirit of flame must be destroyed,' he growled, reading himself for another attack even as the human warrior sliced through the cylindrical flames with a single hand. 'And if I must destroy you to do so, then so be it.'

'That will not happen,' the other replied.

'We shall see. Inferno Gate!'

The new attack caught the newly evolved warrior of guard, and he rapidly leapt into the air to avoid the black portals that suddenly appeared even as the gnome-like digimon pulled a book from its confines and rapidly consulted it for information.

He muttered to himself, flicking through the pages, before pausing at one which contained an image similar to the red armoured digimon.

'Ah,' he exclaimed. 'He's Agunimon, the Warrior of Flame.'

Meanwhile, Agunimon as he was identified, found himself slipping into a portal; as positioned as they were, they were near impossible to dodge.

He gripped the edge on reflex, only to be forced to let go as the other clawed at his hands. And so he fell, into the never-ending pit of darkness.

He could see nothing, as Cerberumon's voice echoed around him. But he shut it out, relying instead on instinct as opposed to sight, allowing the swipes to hit as he readied himself.

Another Hellfire engulfed him, but he resisted, reaching out to grab the other's paw as he lowered his guard too soon.

'No,' the other growled, even as flames burst out of the gauntlets of the fire warrior, wrapping around him as he began to spin, forming a raging tornado.

'Salamander break!' he declared, as a leg came out of the flames and struck him, the fiery tornado finishing the job even as the darkness was incinerated.

As he struck the other, binary code appeared, the zeroes and ones running across the skin a moment, before the form, quite literally collapsed, its flesh broken and charred beyond even the repair of his regenerating skin. The others shielded their eyes, even as the gruesome sight faded away, the numbers running across the screen of the strange device before it deactivated.

The digimon form faded away as the human fell to his knees. He wondered, how he had known to do that, to fight as if he had always done so.

It had seemed so natural, that even the fact that he had just killed a living creature had yet to register in his mind.

But the spirit, the power he had felt during that, it was the power that had called him...the power he wanted to change. And could, so much, or so little...it all depended on how such power was used.

'Molto cool!' Izumi's voice exclaimed from somewhere above.

'I want one!' Tomoki's cheered.

Junpei simply grunted, but it seemed even he was impressed, and nothing needed to be said for the other two, who were jumping and cheering as if the greatest gift had been bestowed upon them.

After all, he was flame. So all that was required was him to kick-start the whole process. The rest would fall into place on its own.


	3. Justifying the Means

**Author's Notes**

This chapter gives you a _major_ hint as to what's going to happen, the first segment especially.

And if you look _really_ closely, you'll find I've actually given enough information to piece together who the absolute "evil guy/girl/digimon" in this story is. If you can't figure it out, take a closer look at the descriptions.

Currency in the digital world is bits/bytes, eight bits are equivalent to one byte which is equivalent to about 77 yen (that's AUS$1, don't know the other countries conversions. Why would I? I'm Australian, and so I use Australian Dollars. Story is partially set in Japan, so I use yen, and in digital world, so I made up a currency, seeing as though digidollars was already used in the second season.)

I don't like Angler in the English dub (he's like too babyish), so I'm taking the liberty of changing his personality a little. Though Worm is classic, so he stays.

Oh, by the way, I made a mistake with the time skip. It was supposed to be after this chapter, seeing as though an explanation is needed.

And I was writing an English commentary simultaneously with this chapter (well, to be exact, two commentaries at different times), so I was in that mind-frame while writing this. Hence the symbolisms and more oblique clues as to what's going to happen.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Digimon or the butterfly analogy. All I own is my writing and my trusty laptop.

Enjoy everyone.

* * *

**Butterflies' Flight**

AU. Like butterflies, they followed the flame, drawn to his light, despite that fact that following so blindly could potentially lead to corruption. And yet they shy away from the dark, the one thing that may save them yet...

Takuya K & Kouichi K

* * *

**Chapter 2 – Justifying the Means**

Minamoto Kouji was so absorbed in his thoughts that upon exiting the tunnel, he showed more surprised at what he saw than he would have in most other circumstances. Naturally enough, his usual stoic expression slipped on soon enough; after all, it wouldn't do for him to display a sign of weakness, despite in his current seclusion in the interior of his chosen mode of transport, there was no-one that could have seen.

Most would interpret his greatest sin as pride, though in actual fact it was far less him than another which few would at first glance associate the term with. That is not to say that he was not proud; he was, all were. However his pride, though appearing great, was in reality not overtly experienced; his demeanour was simply often misinterpreted as such.

The misconceived mask simply served as a shield from the outer world. His own defence mechanism, though perhaps he would not have needed it had there not been a large hole in his heart that needed filling, and his soul as well. The small part which had left him vulnerable, and so to protect himself, he covered it with a cold apathy which became his masquerade in all but his deepest dreams in which no facade could remain whole.

The dreams of which he retained no memory during his waking hours...though they plagued him in his loneliness at night. The nightmares left him bewildered upon his awakening; the sheets were always bunched up, half hanging off the bed and soaked with sweat, while his hair was dishevelled, making him look far younger than he actually was, especially when contrasted with his usual visage. And yet he remained ignorant as to the events which could have caused them.

Especially as the lonely nights of darkness always passed by in silence as he tried to grab something that was out of his reach.

He shifted slightly, making himself more comfortable as the landscape raced past his line of sight only to be replaced with a new scene. He barely paid heed to it, his thoughts wandering to the phone message he had received, and the reasons as to him accepting the offer presented.

He was sceptical by nature, and one who dealt with facts, though being a martial artist meant his intuition was quite sharp and thus reliable as well. However, he most certainly was not one to jump onto the Volkswagen without a clear indication of what he was getting himself into, and if the doubts and questions that flew through his head with each passing moment was any indication, it would appear as though he did_ not_ have a clear understanding about what lay ahead when he chose to accept.

And those doubts weren't sitting too well, so to speak. Because while he was compelled to continue, something else was compelling him to turn back. Not from the path upon which his feet were firmly planted, but from one of the two as they forked out in the near future.

But only the future would be able to tell him which path was the right one in the end. One could only hope that he would walk the right one, else someone else may wind up paying the price for his mistake...or that of the eye blinded by light and flame.

* * *

The sudden euphoria which erupted from the attained victory soon enough dispelled as they became aware of exactly _what_ had just happened. Namely the fact that they had witnessed a murder, and worse, one of them had actually been the executioner.

Takuya stood. For a moment, the shock froze his blood, till he remembered the black eyes that had stared at him, the ruthless adversary which had aimed to tear him to shreds and would not have hesitated to do so to carry out the duty prescribed to him. _It was self defence,_ he told himself. _Who knew what other damage that, whatever it was, could have done to get what he wanted. Who knew what he had already done._ He didn't even pause to consider the fact that he had in fact been the one to provoke the other, claiming something that, although technically having the right as it was under the guardianship of the one who had called them to her world, needed to be destroyed in order to reveal the broken and tainted world upon which corruption and evil dwelled and steadily grew as goodness in the end could not help but be twisted and deformed by it. He failed to consider exactly _what_ he was fighting for, and if his cause was really the right one, as he was a boy who trusted his instincts always, and instinct led him to acceptance and the cleansing of the initial guilt, though he failed to realise it was warped to the point where it was unrecognisable and yet recognised without change.

The others, the humans that is, simply stared on, till their attention was attracted to the strange device the brunette still hand in his hand, the screen flashing blue as it emitted a systematic beeping.

Confused, the one holding it watched as the others, despite their distance, backed away, save the white gnome and yellow rabbit, both of whom approached rather enthusiastically, the latter being dragged along by the waistband of his pants.

'I suppose the binary code needs to be rendered,' the gnome stated, once it became apparent that Takuya was at a loss as to what to do.

'Rendered?'

'The black button on the far right.' The creature pointed to the said small black button, and the gloved hand descended upon it immediately, not even pausing to assess the trustworthiness of the one giving the instructions as he felt somewhere in the back of his mind that they were trustworthy.

The device beeped again, more cheerily this time, as binary code ran across the screen before transferring itself like a thin and almost transparent stream of zeroes and ones, running across the damaged platform before replacing the outer layers. More entranced by the light itself, those staring at it failed to notice the newly fashioned metal simply formed over the melted and dilapidated crevice, hiding the damage as opposed to mending it. It was a temporary fix; after all, the new barrier covering the truth will deteriorate in time, revealing the destruction beneath as its condition depreciates further as time passes during its captivity in the darkness that protects knowledge of it from the world.

As it was, the beauty of the display as the code rewrote the structure made it possible for them to forget the raw impact of their witness. It hadn't taken a permanent hold on their minds, and as a consequence, it was far easier to wash over the raw wounds with honey and sooth them then allow them to heal (and hurt) at their own accord. After all, in their view, the monster could have destroyed them all, so he, Takuya, was justified in the killing. And in taking the initiative while in possession of the power to do so...well, one may soon see the consequences of such action.

'What was that?' Tomoki breathed, the others having finally come over to the boy who was currently supporting himself on one knee.

It was the white gnome who answered. 'A digimon.'

He received four blank looks in return. 'Um...what the heck is a digimon?' Takuya asked, once the silence stretched. 'And who are the two of you for that matter?'

'Ah, right.' The talker appeared the slightest bit embarrassed. 'The introductions. I am Bokomon, keeper of the Book of Knowledge.'

'And I am Neemon, keeper of my pants,' the yellow rabbit cheered, before the said pants was snapped to his stomach again by the waistband.

The children registered those names to memory as they introduced themselves as well, choosing to walk to a more ample location for discussion as Bokomon led them out of the station as he explained the nature of Digimon.

'Digimon are artificial intelligence programmes which have evolved beyond the limitations of the humans who originally created them...'

And as he continued his explanation as the group of six stepped over the threshold of the station-like structure, they failed to notice the train-like creature which was slowing to a stop just before the newly repaired rails.

* * *

The train, or what the bandana-wearing boy assumed to be a train, decelerated its speed as it neared a steel structure which represented a station, though not nearly as elaborate as Shibuya's or Jiyugaoka's, though it certainly had a distinct architecture, what with the large boiler in the centre and all.

The tracks at least looked normal, from both perspectives as Kouji stared expressionlessly out the window and the train, in fact another Trailmon by the name of Angler, had his eyes fixated on the rails, judging speed, distance and applying enough pressure in order to stop safely.

Or at least until the railing under the front wheel fell away, and the blue train automatically slammed on the breaks in order to prevent itself from getting stuck, switching almost immediately into reverse gear to get the wheel out of the small hole even as his only passenger was thrown off his seat from the jerking.

A screeching sound echoed, though quiet enough to remain in the local vicinity of the station tracks as the train managed to get all its appendages onto solid ground again and Kouji, slightly irritated, though the irritation immediately dispelled when he discovered the cause, picked himself up and disembarked.

'Where did that come from?' he asked, confused upon seeing a part of the rails burnt away. He was sure it had been perfectly normal, staring at from the window.

'I couldn't tell ya,' the train commented, much to the boy's surprise, although he did an admirable job at hiding it. 'Though this certainly is _not_ my idea of an uneventful job.'

Kouji chose to remain silent as the train examined its right wheel. 'It _was_ an uneventful job,' it muttered ruefully, eyeing the chip that had resulted. 'I just got them replaced too. There goes another few hundred more bytes down the drain. Though why wheel replacements have to be so expensive, I'll never know.' He looked up suddenly, seemingly remembering that he as in company. 'Sorry 'bout that,' he apologized. 'Doesn't normally happen on jobs.'

This time, a trace of confusion flickered on his expression, before vanishing. 'Who are you?' he asked bluntly, thinking it rather impolite should he use the word 'what' as opposed to 'who', seeing as he appeared to be a 'being' rather than a 'creature' considering the obvious display of individual thought and legible communication, and the slight pain which showed on the blue face as it toed its chipped wheel.

'Oh don't tell me I've got a bruise too,' the train exclaimed. Then he caught sight of the raised eyebrow aimed at him. 'Oh right, introductions. I'm a Digimon, a Trailmon to be specific. Angler at your service.'

Angler tried to bow, but failed as the area around the right frontal wheel still seemed a little tender.

'Minamoto Kouji,' the boy muttered sourly, not too happy at receiving more confusion as an answer.

'Let me guess, explanation time?' the blue Trailmon inquired.

The slightly more attentive look was enough of an answer.

* * *

'Digimon are artificial intelligence programmes,' Bokomon explained once they had, after a few complications, settled themselves into the white gnome's home in the Flame Terminal, 'which have evolved beyond the limitations of the humans who originally created them into a race of beings on its own, capable of self-sustainment within a world which evolved from a mere shadow of the human world.'

He stopped upon seeing the five blank looks he received in return. 'Well, we're data, simply put,' he sighed. 'Though that doesn't even begin to skim the edges of the complexities of-'

'All right,' Takuya interrupted, getting slightly irritated from the long winded and complicated answer which was sure to follow. 'We get it. Digimon are data.'

Bokomon coughed, professionally hiding his own annoyance. 'Ahem, yes, well, the point is that there is more to digimon than simply data. Just like there is more to humans than flesh and blood.'

'So then you all have feelings too.' Tomoki asked, the unwanted images returning as it occurred to him that there might not be that much of a difference between them and the creature they just killed. 'And live and die like we do?'

'Well,' the white gnome digimon attempted to explain. 'That's where things get complicated. We feel, but not necessarily in the sense of human emotion. We live, but in essence, we cannot die. After all, despite the complexities that are wrought on the existence of all digimon, their core is essentially data, as is their form, so the data returns to the framework of the digital world from where it originally stems while the specific coding for the individual is stored in the Primary Database where it is reformatted and eventually released as an egg into the Village of Beginnings.'

'So...they're just reborn?' Junpei question, attempting to catch the gist of the waffle.

'So to speak,' Bokomon sighed, finding it rather difficult to illustrate the nature of both the digital world and those who lived upon it to those who have, till then, known no other world save the one from which they arrived. 'But all that is irrelevant!' he exclaimed. 'The Digital World is in peril! You must help us!'

'In peril?' Neemon questioned, as if doubting the validity of the other's words.

A sudden explosion proved him wrong, so to speak.

* * *

'Well, best of luck chum,' Angler said as a farewell, reversing carefully before accelerating, returning to his schedule after bringing his human ex-passenger up to speed.

Said human was none too pleased with the rather confusing explanation, but was forced to take it all in stride, seeing as though, according to the blue Trailmon in any case, the connection between the two worlds had overloaded and temporarily cut itself off in order to rejuvenate.

Having only some vague directions to go along with, he left the platform, and then the station, taking stock of the environment and the decay it presented below the beautiful surface. It seemed more an illusion of grandeur than much more.

There was nothing visually deficient, save the burnt part of the rails and the hole it caused. It was more the feeling it promoted, the small, nagging sense of doubt at the back of his mind-

He was jerked out of his thoughts as a bright light suddenly consumed his vision, warming his body as though an internal heater had been switched on, followed by a large shadow suddenly looming over him. Martial arts training kicking in, he dove to the side, ducking through the mouth of a conveniently placed cave before hiding in the shadows of it himself.

There, little light penetrated the darkness, and that unnerved him. The doubts amplified in the darkness; while the calling became stronger than ever, the doubt overpowered that. Not against the calling, but for another, the one a part of him, at the same time, repulsed. Something that seemed at dark as the darkness itself, like a small whisper in the breeze who had always existed, always called, but always been ignored...

His sharp ears picked up movement and he glanced out of the mouth, finding himself uncharacteristically startled at the sludge dripping off the hillside into which the cave dug, corroding the dirt barrier as acid corrodes anything it touches. He backed off again, a wise move, as within seconds, the thin roots which webbed together and held the fragments of soil together burnt away into nothingness, causing the heavier rocks which encased the cave's mouth, and the plantation that grew around it, along with the dirt curtain, to collapse as its support was removed, plunging the cave into almost complete darkness as a deafening roar, resulting due to a combination of the creature's, whom he assumed to be a "digimon" seeing as though he was supposedly in a "digital" world, and the landslide which was occurring, the rocks thundering down like a storm of bricks.

Only the thinnest of trickles still remained to show a path to a lost soul. Light which guided, which shed truth, while at the same time altered memory and emotion. Darkness held truth, light released it as it saw fit, or strayed one from the path, like the butterfly following the flame of destruction to its inevitable end. Or like the fly caught in the spider's web.

It was a beacon, a path in the never ending darkness. It felt warm, trustworthy, a part of him...but the darkness did too. The darkness which hid him, shielded him from those red eyes, while keeping him safe in the sanctuary where little light could pierce, but still, he preferred light. Preferred the defensive wall over the soft blanket of security in which he could never make himself too comfortable for reasons he then did not know.

And so he followed the light, truly blind to both his final abode, and another's to whom he sent to his doom by his own hand...or soon will. Holistically, it was the same thing in the end. Whether it had already occurred or soon will was irrelevant. What mattered was the inevitability of the events which had already been kick-started by the flame destined to lead them all.

* * *

'What are those Poyomon doing?' Bokomon wondered aloud, watching with interest as the white jelly-like creatures fled into the forest.

'Running away,' Neemon input helpfully, earning himself a snap on the waistband for his rather redundant statement. After all, that was quite obvious, the mass of white vanishing into the trees as fast as a group of jelly blobs (at least, that was what they looked like to the five children) seemed to be able to.

But as to why they were running away, the group was at a lost, until they turned in the opposite direction and saw the landslide. The stench of decay filled the air, and a greenish substance still tricked down the side of the collapsed rock formation, burning away the graphite finish and creating dentures in the solid surface as it ran.

Most of the rubble was covered by a slimy, repulsing looking creature which looked, so to speak, like the insides of a garbage can, and its stench served to reinforce that notion.

'That would be Raremon,' the gnome read, revealing his book to be open to a page with a sketch of the creature in front of them. 'A virus digimon. Champion level. Found in the sewers, and if the smell of its rotting flesh doesn't knock you out, its acid sludge attack will.' He shuddered soon after at the thought.

'How do you know that?' the rabbit questioned, clueless as ever, or so he appeared.

'Oh, don't ask stupid questions,' the other muttered, unfortunately a little too loud as it alerted the Raremon to their presence.

'Acid sludge!' he roared, firing a stream of green acid from his mouth. The six immediately dove to avoid it, hearing the cry of several Poyomon behind them as the remnants struck their fleeing backs. The acid melted through their jelly-like bodies, the young digimon screaming as pain clouded their mind and their bodies disintegrated into the soil, binary code running across their skin before fading into the ground beneath them as the remaining scraps of data-skin scattered in the slight wind.

The digimon immediately backed away at its mistake. Having been commanded to destroy the spirits by any means necessary, he had fired when he had felt the spirit of light, then again when sensing the spirit of flame. Both attacks had missed their targets, and while the first only resulted in collateral damage, casualties occurred as a result of the second, innocent digimon who had simply been at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Takuya turned, device in hand, rage clouding rationale even as the Raremon regretted its mistake. Within an instant, binary code had encircled him, and with the passing of another, Agunimon was locked in combat with the virus type.

'How is the world does he do that?' Izumi asked, still somewhat in awe despite the repeated shock of seeing death twice in the same day, but whether due to denial or something else, the majority of her attention was focused on the evolution which had taken place in front of her; the difference between the fiery brunette who had the tenacity to wind up in an awkward position with a girl the same age and not know its implications, and the warrior burning with a fiery passion as it attempted to destroy the threat in front of them and avenge the innocent deaths, though according to Bokomon, currently their only source of information, their data would be rejuvenated eventually. Or so they make themselves believe in a fool's hope; none wanted to bear such a burden on a laden heart.

'It's called Spirit Evolution,' Bokomon explained, flicking back a few pages to reveal a neatly made sketch of the red warrior into whom Takuya had transformed. 'He was able to transform into the Human Warrior of Flame by using the Human Spirit of Flame. I imagine the rest of you will be able to as well.'

'Oh...'

And they continued to watch the exchange of blows.

* * *

Kouji found himself wondering deeper and deeper into the labyrinth as he attempted to find the exit. Still, he followed the light, currently the only path he was willing to tread.

Or at least, until the roof fell away just behind him.

* * *

The fight continued. Agunimon lashed out, landing strike after strike, but the elasticity of the other's body prevented even a dent from occurring. To the best of his ability, the flame warrior dodged the spurts of acid, the attacks burning away bits of earth and flora as Raremon took care to avoid the remaining innocents. Fire occasionally shot out of the gauntlets, singing the grass and debris beneath them, and combined, the combat eventually caused the ground to give way, the two battlers falling as their feets' support gave way.

The boy found himself pressed against the wall in the limited room with two new occupants. One he recognized, the red eyed creature that had caused the entrance of what he had then assumed to be a cave to cave in. The other he did not.

In the minimal space, it was all too easy for attacks to go astray, as the Salamander Break missed its target and hit the space about Kouji's head, finally alerting the other to his presence.

'Hey,' he said aloud. 'You're that kid from the elevator.'

He didn't seem too thrilled. But then again, neither did the other as he saw passed the digimon armour to the boy beneath it.

'Oh great,' he groaned, annoyed. 'That gogglehead.'

And then another acid sludge fired towards them.

Takuya jumped, using the fallen debris as leverage to get back onto solid ground, while Kouji, not having the digital advance, was forced to duck as the wall behind him crumbed too. For a moment, the structure wavered, before the stone wall collapsed, and with it, the ground beneath him.

* * *

Light burst forth, even as he fell, enveloping him in its warm, yet harsh, embrace. The light burnt at his eyes, but at the same time widened them as even in the blank whiteness, he could see the outline of something else.

Something...which had been calling him all this time.

Light...

_The spirit of light..._

The words vibrated on his lips, even as he gave no conscious thought to them, the device he had acquired in lieu of his cellphone in his grip as he raised his hands towards the object even as it was observed.

The screen lit up, the symbol of light shining on it.

And then the words echoed, even as he did not consciously say them.

'Execute, Spirit Evolution. Wolfmon.'

* * *

The others, Raremon excluded, stared in horror as the rest of the ground collapsed. They had all seen the boy who had been there, and logically, there was no way he would survive a fall into so deep a crevice as that left by the assortment of attacks, which one could, upon very close inspection, deduce were all not new.

So, suffice to say, they were _all_ extremely shocked as a warrior clothed predominantly in white, with the symbol of light engraved onto his right shoulder, rise out of the said crevice.

'That's Wolfmon,' Bokomon revealed in awe, after frantically flipping a few pages with a sketch of the said digimon. 'The Human Warrior of Light.'

The red eyes of Raremon darkened; he too had failed to destroy the spirit before it bonded. But his lord knew well the sacrifices that were needed. If lives needed to be sacrificed to save all, then it had to be done. After all, he could see the corruption of the land ran so deep that the world was no longer able to rejuvenate itself. The only way to heal the wounds was to destroy it utterly, so that it could be made whole once more.

As such, it was with absolutely no regret that he fired another acid sludge aimed directly for his heart, even as the other's heart burnt with guilt at deliberately seizing this premature life. However, Wolfmon instinctively extended twin Licht Seiger swords from each wrist, raising them jointly to block the sludge.

The swords parted. The attack faded. And then, neither of the two combatants moved for a moment. The second however, soon did, followed by the third who had been temporarily pushed to the sidelines with the new entry. Anticipating the attack as soon as the large mouth opened, he allowed flames, which now seemed more a part of him than anything else, to envelop his arms as they shimmered in the oxygen rich air and changed into a dragon.

'Burning Salamander,' he roared, releasing the flames held between his gauntlets, ignoring the other's cry of protest as the flames devoured the virus digimon. He screeched, a horrible, inhumane cry, as the fire burnt away his flesh, and all were forced to turn away as the skin peeled off to reveal the horror beneath, before that too faded away as the fire ended its journey of destruction.

Small, familiar, head-like creatures fell away, before they too vanished, though not fast enough to avoid being seen by the eldest in their group.

'Hey!' Junpei exclaimed. 'Those are the Pagumon that wanted my chocolate!'

No-one bothered gracing that with a reply.

Wolfmon fell to his knees, binary code swirling before leaving the bandana boy kneeling in his place. Takuya soon followed, rushing over to the other as soon as his own de-transformation was complete, only to be pushed away at the other's growl.

'Don't touch me.'

Whether it was because of the killing which, while somewhat necessary, could have been avoided through means of negotiation, or his own nature, or something else entirely, was anyone's guess. But while the barrier between them stood strong, it was only a matter of time before it crumbled into nothingness.

After all, fire was one of the primary sources of light. So where the flame went, eventually, the light would have to follow too.

And with it, the darkness that shadowed him.

* * *

Kouichi stirred awake slowly, trying to ignore the savage pounding in his head as he attempted to gain his bearings. Overhead, stars gleamed, though they were like none he had seen before, a constellation of a deep, violet that melted into the dark sky as opposed to separating from it.

It was beautiful. Hauntingly beautiful, even as the darkness stretched far. It felt safe, but still beneath, hidden from view, corruption lurked.

Thankfully, it was, at the present time, out of reach. Even as he had seen it before his eyes before his awakening, and would no doubt, see it again.

He sat up, finding himself stretched out on a luxuriously sized bed in what looked to be a combination of a study and a bedroom. Books lined one wall, while a large window occupied the opposing one, its curtains wide apart, outside which he could see the gleaming night sky.

On the desk beside the bed, a black cat-like creature was curled up, fast asleep. Though its sensitive hearing soon picked up the slight movement, and one yellow eye opened.

'Oh, hello,' she yawned, covering her mouth with a blue paw, before opening her other eye and hopping into his lap. 'Good to see you seem to be doing fine.'

Blue eyes blinked at the yellow ones.

'Ah,' she laughed. 'Seems to me you need an explanation.'

'That would be good,' he responded softly.

'So,' she began, making herself comfortable as the black-haired boy shifted to accommodate her. 'What do you know?'

'I know about the digimon,' he replied, his voice barely above a whisper, though that was perfectly normal for him conversing with one he knew little of. In fact, he generally barely talked at all to strangers, though the black cat was no human, and thus, an exception. 'And some of the digital world.'

'Okay,' the feline mused thoughtfully. 'Then I guess introductions are the first order of business.'

She then straightened up, causing the boy to squirm slightly, before it bowed deeply. 'I'm BlackTailmon,' she introduced, before straightening up.

'Kimura Kouichi,' the other blinked, bowing as well as he could in his position and with the pounding headache.

'Well,' the cat mused again. 'You might want to settle down Kouichi, because is going to be one long explanation. But I'm not the one explaining.'

'You're not?' Kouichi blinked again.

''course not,' BlackTailmon giggled, its black and purple striped tail flicking. 'Can't make things too easy on thy lord now can I?'

Laughing at the bewildered expression she received, she cupped her mouth, before hollering.

'Lord Cherubimon!'

Then she grinned at the boy in whose lap she lay back down it. 'Well, can't have you walking around now, so Lord Cherubimon will have to come to us.'

'Cherubimon-sama?'

'Oh, drop the suffixes hun,' the cat yawned. 'There aren't too many humans here. Unless it's a habit.'

She peered up at the other through her eyelashes as the other blushed slightly and stammered something.

'Habit,' she nodded. 'So it stays.'

Then the door to their side opened. 'Ah,' she greeted, opening her eyes. 'Lord Cherubimon.'

* * *

The discussion lasted well beyond sunrise, even as Cherubimon, after reprimanding his subordinate's cheek, took care to eliminate as much bias as possible from his explanation. Though he wasn't too pleased with the duty being loaded onto his shoulders, BlackTailmon was right. It was he who had brought the human into this world and tied his fate to the spirit while knowing he stood more a chance of surviving without it, so it was he who must explain his actions.

And in the end, leave the choice to him.

After all, just because he was bound to a corrupted spirit in order to sustain his own, it didn't mean that he would choose the path of corruption.

And being darkness, he may be the only one who could sway the path of the flame, which at the time, burnt strong.


	4. Reality's Illusion

**Author's Notes**

There is a time skip between the last chapter and this, in which the others have attained their human spirits. And for those of you not familiar with the Japanese names of some places, the Venus Rose is the Rose Morning Star in the English dub, and the Akiba Market is the Autumn Leaf Fair. I don't know the Japanese names of the Trailmon, so I've left them as their English names. Pleading author's ignorance there.

And this chapter takes after episode 9: Bakumon is the Enemy? Mysterious TV Forest (eng. dub: Welcome to my Nightmare). The next few don't though, so that will be interesting.

Another change. I mentioned in an earlier chapter binary code. In this, I mention digi-code. In essence, they're the same thing, but the fractal code is associated with beings that physically entered the Digital Plane and their bodies were adjusted to take on a more suitable form (on the inside, outside they look the same of course). Kouichi, because he didn't enter the Digital World the 'normal' way, has binary code manifesting when it does. The Trailmon, when they entered the human world, manifested a physical form much like the rules in Tamers, assembling protein and atoms into their data structure and forming DNA, because they possess that natural affinity. Thus they can physically exist in the human world.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Digimon or the butterfly analogy. All I own is my writing and my trusty laptop.

Enjoy everyone.

* * *

**Butterflies' Flight**

AU. Like butterflies, they followed the flame, drawn to his light, despite that fact that following so blindly could potentially lead to corruption. And yet they shy away from the dark, the one thing that may save them yet...

Takuya K & Kouichi K

* * *

**Chapter 3 – Reality's Illusion**

'Digimon gossip too much,' BlackTailmon suddenly complained, collapsing on a rock to rest her sore paws. She and Kouichi had left the Venus Rose two days ago, after Cherubimon's explanation had followed some training to cover the many gaps in the human's knowledge of the Digital World, and more importantly, how to survive in it. It was a little embarrassing for him at first, as they involved what other Digimon at the castle deemed 'the basics' in which he had been woefully ignorant, but he caught on quick enough, and the Lord of the said castle felt guilty enough about involving an innocent child in his own problems that the time away from home was actually quite enjoyable, even before the teasing banter of the other inhabitants wore off.

Both Cherubimon and BlackTailmon had been surprised at the ease at which the explanation had been accepted. Upon questioning, Kouichi had simply answered that he felt they were telling the truth, even if the evidence before his eyes was disregarded. He did, however, to an extent disagree to the approach the Celestial Digimon had chosen, and in well manner, the Digimon had allowed the two to search for the remaining spirits in more diplomacy than their predecessors had offered.

Which now brought them en route to the edge of the Continent of Darkness, where a Trailmon could then carry them to the Forest Terminal. As Cherubimon had explained, the spirits under the guardianship of Ophanimon, another of the three Celestials, and Seraphimon, the last of their triad, were most likely situated in the area encompassing their domains. And as the human spirits had all been found, four destroyed, one bounded to him, and the other five bounded to other humans, nine beast spirits remained unaccounted for.

'What does that have to do with anything?' Kouichi asked, taking a seat beside his companion and stretching out his sore legs. He was sure he had not done as much walking in a month back home as he had within these two days. And no doubt more walking would be involved. Especially if the feline's sense of direction was as bad as his own.

'Rumours keep most digimon from crossing into the Continent of Darkness,' she yawned in reply, lazily flicking her tail. 'It's good in a sense, next to no risk of invasion, so the area's quite safe, but the problem is no Trailmon ever comes here too, so if someone needs to exit the Continent, or exit for that matter, unless they have wings, they have to walk. And the gossip began the whole mess to begin with.'

'Is it because it's darkness? Like my spirit?'

'Something like that.' She peered out of the corner of her eyes at the other, before frowning slightly. 'It's the most mysterious of the ten elements, but that doesn't make it evil. Digimon are just prone to thinking like that.'

'Humans too.'

'Indeed? I thought it was only digimon that didn't have brains.' Her voice rose an octave, reminding Kouichi of the blank response teachers sometimes received from inattentive students.

'Such breed of fear,' he said quietly, looking at his lap. 'And fear of darkness is a common fear. It conceals too much. And it has been for too long associated with evil.'

'That is true,' the feline mused, sensing they were wandering into dangerous territory and attempting to rectify it. 'It is difficult for them to accept otherwise. But the spirit accepted you, when it has rejected many more before you. That has to mean something.'

'Maybe.' The other's voice was doubtful. 'It might just mean I'm evil too.'

BlackTailmon extended her claws, looking at the glittering edges. 'Do I need to scrape some sense into you?' she asked sternly, causing an apprehensive look to slip onto the other's face. 'Now listen.'

Once she was sure she had his undivided attention, she continued seriously. 'Every being of free will has goodness and evil about them. As such, it is impossible for one to be absolutely one or the other. In the ideal circumstance, the forces of good and evil are balance, but it is when the balance is upset, whether that be tipping the scale towards good or evil, that what you would interpret as 'evil' results. Light and darkness are different in essence. They are both elements, and represent nothing except what others choose to be represented by it. In the end, it's the choices that one makes that defines their extent of goodness. I may not have known you for that long, but I've seen enough to know that you're a good person at heart, even if you lack the self-confidence to accept that at times. Now did you get all that or am I going to have to use more persuasive means.'

'No, I got it,' Kouichi said hurriedly, knowing first-hand how sharp her claws were, but then the doubt crept back into his voice with the next question. 'Why couldn't Cherubimon-sama destroy the spirits of Darkness, when he destroyed the other four, if darkness is just an element like the others?'

'That's different,' BlackTailmon frowned. 'I believe Lucemon cursed the Ancient Warrior of Darkness with the last of his power as his way of enacting revenge on him, and the curse carried to the spirits, and then to its wielder.' And then she suddenly realised what she had said and face palmed her forehead, causing the sharp claws to scratch her temple in the process. 'Oww. Anyway, I don't think I was supposed to tell you that.'

'Cherubimon-sama already told me,' the other explained. 'He warned me not to evolve with them unless it was absolutely necessary. He didn't give any details though.'

'For a good reason,' the cat replied, relieved that the cat had never been placed in the bag to be let out, getting up again and stretching at the same time. 'He doesn't know. Nor does anyone else for that matter. But it's no point counting your chickens before they hatch.'

Then her ears twitched as she heard a whistle in the distance. 'Come on. I hear the Trailmon. Last one there is a rotten digiegg.'

And with that, she sped off with a silly giggle, leaving the rather confused boy to swallow the stutters that rose to his lips and follow, all the time wondering if humans were reincarnated as digimon. Or rather, one specific human.

* * *

Five tired warriors and two tired Child digimon slumped down next to their makeshaft campsite, mainly a fire (courtesy of Takuya, Junpei and Kouji who had reluctantly joined their little espionage) and meat apples cooking beside it. Fighting was taking its toll, and while they were constantly forced to fight for their lives, or someone elses, sometimes they, Kouji in particular, could not help but wonder if the deaths that now weighted them could have been avoided.

Takuya thought that too, but he tried to avoid that thought. Stopping the problem before it grew seemed the most logical solution, and those seeking death for their own means had to be inherently evil. That was of course not strictly true, but it was a commonly held belief that good and evil were definite. So if he was good, then logic held that the opposition was evil. There had to be one side that was wrong, one side which earned the blame while the other side dished it out. That was how things had always worked: at home, at school, everywhere. When his parents fought lately, one would always claim it was the other's fault, and eventually, one side would emerge victorious. There was never any grey area; there was always a winner and a loser. So he saw the rest of the world the same way.

The digimon they had scanned had attacked them, or other innocent digimon, destroying homes and families in attempting to...do whatever they were doing, or had been ordered to do, if the first Cerberusmon's words could be taken to heart. The bottom line was that they had to be stopped, before they did more damage, and what damage they had done had to be repaired.

Perhaps they were so desperate to see that damage restored that they didn't realise the glamour. Or perhaps they were right. After all, each coin had two sides; who could claim in an early stage which side was true and which was false.

And who could say either were wholly right or wrong? At that stage, while feet remained firmly on separate paths, with flame on one path with others trailing behind, and the darkness on another from which they shied.

Regardless, while it was easily said or thought, it was not so easily accepted, because their hearts still rebelled against it.

But it was also heart that had set them on that path; as Ophanimon had told them and they had accepted, to save the Digital World and restore it after the damage from Lucemon's reign and destruction, and the aftershocks, including the snit between the two Celestials.

The mood did, however, lighten when the meat-apples which substituted their dinner caught fire.

Perhaps laughter really was the best medicine.

But the clouds soon came and dimmed that. After all, a heavy heart is not the best to bring into the TV forest past nightfall.

* * *

The children were naturally bewildered as they saw the windows to their own world. It seemed at first like a television, showing attractions from their world like a travel channel...until they started seeing places and people they recognised, and the feelings of homesickness, along with some insecurities, hit home.

Izumi stared at her school, large and empty with the Sakura tree blooming and the petals being plucked gently by the wind and tossed aside. It hadn't changed at all in her three years there, though it still had a wide expanse that allowed for change, should one be able to recognise it. But to her, it had never looked so dark, so...foreboding.

The wind suddenly felt very cold to her.

Junpei eyed the pile that lay on what looked like his bed. He supposed it had to be; no one else he knew had chocolate bars over the bedspread. But the pile wasn't chocolate bars, which uplifted his mood when he was down. It was magic tricks. Cards, wands, hats, scarves...a magician's dream world, only he could not do a single one with the skill and ease as those with expertise did. It was his dream, to be a magician and enchant children of all ages, to show them that there was something hidden under every rock (or ear), but he could barely do a trick at all, let alone good enough for personal satisfaction.

And now they sat collecting dust. As if the thunder of defeat had shocked them into silence.

Kouji looked entranced at the woman bustling around in a small kitchen, disbelieving. It was impossible...wasn't it? His mother, she had been dead for years, killed in a car crash when he had been only three years old. So then why was she _there_, unless he still hadn't let go of her after all these years.

Anger rising, he jerked his head away. He was _over_ it, over family, over friends, or so he wanted in any case. He just didn't get along with people, though that was mostly attributed to his unwillingness to open up to them, including his own flesh and blood. Coupled with the constant shifting due to his father's transfers, it was no wonder he hadn't established a close relationship with anyone; his father was never home long enough to do so, and his stepmother too new for him to be able to do so. He was still trying to accept her as one of the family; that was why he had been at the flower shop after all.

But still, he told himself he didn't need them. Until the light of revelation flashed in front of his eyes and told him he did.

Takuya couldn't stop a glare as he saw his brother's birthday cake on the table, and behind it, his mother shouting angrily into the phone whose extension he held. Just as he had left them. His birthday hadn't been much different, only the parental roles had switched with his father being the one arguing over the lack of his mother's presence.

It had started becoming a regular occurrence in the Kanbara household; up till a few months back they had been happily married. And now they fought every other week about the smallest things, even more than the two brothers fought (and that was really saying something). For a while, he thought it would blow over, but when it didn't, he angered quickly, staying away from the house as much as he could while his normally boisterous attitude at school and in the park spread mischief. The detentions helped; they kept him away from home, even though he knew both parents were disappointed with his record. He didn't mind it though; a rebellious spark which made him _want_ to do something, even if they were in agreement at his own expense.

A little drastic, but he was known for that. And his choices simply fuelled his fire.

They were all however suddenly distracted by Tomoki's cry. 'Mama...'

The deep longing in his voice was what attracted the others, the sadness, the loneliness...like a young child away from home. It was rather easy at times like that to remember that the young boy was, in fact, three years younger than the rest (except Junpei who was four years his elder), and he was sheltered at home as well. It was harder for him to be away from his family than it was for the others, each independent in their own way.

And seeing his mother there, in reach and yet not, made him even lonelier, as old doubts resurfaced, as he wondered again whether or not he was simply a hindrance, if they, the others, only tolerated him because they had to, that he was, like his brother always said, friendless, simply the baby which needed to be looked after, the baby who clung to his mother's skirt.

A tear slid down his cheek, and he shivered in the sudden cold. He wanted to go home, to his mother, but she was out of his reach.

And soon out of his sight as well, as the clouds passed and the bark became blank with a final, dismissing, dismal howl.

* * *

They were all just old wounds which salt had irritated, at the most. But for Tomoki, it had awakened a new one, and the others realised that, so they strove to cheer him up if nothing else.

'Would you like to taste my apple?' Takuya asked, offering the meat fruit on its skewer to him, as he sometimes did when his brother was down for some reason, only he used lollies instead. 'It's yummy.'

Tomoki took the apple with a word of thanks, while Izumi who was standing near smiled. 'Tomoki could be your little brother,' she laughed lightly.

'I have a brother,' the youngster said softly, then he went quiet again.

'So do I,' the elder brunette stood, wandering over to the fire to grab another apple, before plopping down. 'It was his birthday, the day we came here. But 'tou-san was late, and 'kaa-san wasn't too thrilled.'

Junpei somehow sensed the sudden tense atmosphere which had erupted, and he produced two handkerchiefs from his pocket. Swallowing his own fear of failure and ridicule, he began his spectacle.

And it was a success. Mostly.

Because while the other children were engrossed with the 'magic', the warrior of thunder included as he wondered how the trick had actually worked, Tomoki had polished off his apple and returned for the last of his share, and hadn't seen the shadow looming behind him as he reached for the stick.

He blinked as it fell from his limp hand. Then he shrugged it off and bent down to pick the meat apple up.

* * *

The Trailmon rocked along the trail tracks, crossing the continent of earth with speed and nearing the borders of the Forest Kingdom. The route, though rocky, would soon take them to the Forest Terminal, within which it was said that Seraphimon dwelled, and currently slept. Indeed, legend had it that during the conflict between his two friends, he chose the middle road, and as the two titans had clashed on either side, he was forced to surrender into a lengthy sleep to ensure his wisdom endured for those that could hopefully one day save their world from the curse Lucemon had wrought upon it. Because no solution would ever be reached while love for life and freedom contradicted one another.

Whether that was fact or fiction was anybody's guess; no-one for eons had seen him since. But that was still their destination, for the Earth Continent, a barren desert, had already been raked of its fruit. The other option had been the Ice continent which lay of Darkness' other side, but neither fancied the journey through snow, and the Akiba Market would not be arriving for awhile; when one searched, the Akiba Market was the best place to look. When it was in progress. So it was decided, the Forest Kingdom.

'Here we are,' Buffalo boomed, suddenly halting. 'The Forest Kingdom. All disembarking.'

Then he opened his doors and unceremoniously threw them out, before going into reverse gear and shooting off into the distance.

BlackTailmon hissed at the retreating train, before springing to her feet and shrugging at the bewildered look she received. 'That's rather normal for Trailmon. Most of them don't know the meaning of the word 'courtesy.'

* * *

_He found himself alone in darkness. Or rather, not quite alone, as he could see his mother in the distance, her form shimmering like water rippling in a strong breeze. The longing grew as she remained out of his reach; even as he ran after her, calling to her._

_And then shadows suddenly burst to life and held her back._

_ ''kaa-san!' he screamed, straining against the hold._

_She turned, slightly, her voice rippling like her image. 'Sayanora,' she whispered softly, with finality, before the strong gust of shadowy wind blew her image away._

_He repeated the scream, only to invoke laughter from those who held him. 'You're all alone now,' they shrilled, letting go of the boy and allowing him to tumble into a heap. 'She held you as long as she had to, and now she has cast you aside like the burden you are. You, you little spoilt child whose always needed protection from the outside world.'_

_ 'Liar,' he screamed. 'My mother's not gone.'_

_ 'No,' the shadows taunted. 'She _is _gone; she has better fish to catch now. A husband who loves her and provides for her, a son who can become something and make her proud...why does she need you, when all you are is a burden.'_

_ 'No...she loves me, they love me.'_

_ 'Your father is the same. And your brother? You really think _he_ loves you. He scorns your very existence...and why shouldn't he. He is right, you know. Simply a spoilt little cub no good for anything save expenditure. And you have no friends, none at all.'_

_ 'Takuya, Izumi, the others, they're my friends.' But the protests were dying as he recalled his brother's words._

_ 'Your just a burden to them too. They only bring you because you have a spirit that can help them.'_

_ 'That's not true.'_

_ 'Isn't it? Why don't you see for yourself, what they say when you're not around to hear them...' The voices trailed off as the shadows personified, becoming four children hovering above a fire while their fifth member slept peacefully out of earshot, thinking they could not be overheard._

_ 'Why do we bother with the stupid kid anyway?' the largest, Junpei, grumbled. 'He's just a little scaredy cat with a too big hat.'_

Junpei..?

_ 'A baby who just needs babysitting.' Kouji's face looked slightly disgusted as he agreed with the other. 'We always have to run after him.'_

Kouji..?

_ 'You mean I have to run after him,' Takuya interjected. 'Even my brother's not as much as a pest. But the spirit of Ice. We need it.'_

Takuya..?

_ 'What were the Ancients thinking,' Izumi muttered. 'Giving the Legendary Warrior Spirits to a little brat that can't even walk without someone holding his hand. And we have to drag him along like a dog on his leach, because we need the power of those spirits. If his mother were here, I'd just send him back...but then again, why would his mother want him? Why would anyone?'_

Izumi..?

_Something stewed within him, and the darkness grew blacker._

_ 'See,' the voices returned, whispering seductively into his ear. 'See, they don't care for you. You're just a baby to them, one whose pram always needs pushing.'_

_He assented. 'Well...no more!'_

_A low chuckle, too low for the boy trapped in his nightmare to hear. 'No, no more indeed.'_

_It was always easier to have one nuisance take care of another. And generally safer. After all, he did not wish to die.

* * *

_

Junpei turned suddenly at the moan from their youngest member. 'Tomoki?' he wondered aloud, taking in the flushed face and dark rings under his eyes. _A nightmare..?_

Takuya, who had been conversing with the guard, made to follow, only to be distracted by the sudden feeling of movement. A quick glance however proved him wrong, and he followed. And soon, the other two were roused as well, and the four watched him whither amidst his night terror.

At least until he stood and opened his eyes, the blank irises fixated upon him, the only source of his grief within an arm's reach.

'No more,' he whispered, his voice whispered with darkness...and malice. Then a hand slipped into his pocket and retrieved the D-scanner, holding it before them so they could see the crutch he then believed they desired of him, before he evolved.

'Execute, Spirit Evolution. Chakkmon.'

They would taste the steel of their own sword. A fitting justice.

* * *

Fighting an enemy they knew was after their blood was one thing, but fighting a friend was something else entirely. They couldn't _not_ fight, not with the barrage of snowballs threatening to engulf them, but they couldn't run out and parry with a teammate blow for blow. All they could do was run, even if it was the cowardly thing to do.

Takuya forced one foot in front of the other, gritting his teeth in annoyance. It felt so _different_, when it was someone they knew and cared about attacking them. Perhaps that why it was so easier for them to destroy and scan their other enemies...they weren't human, they didn't have such relationships.

But that was the beginning of his doubt as to whether that was true or not.

It would have been easier to believe the other a traitor and have his head, but something held him back. Perhaps it was the shadow he had felt earlier, or the blank, unrecognising look in his eyes, or something else entirely. He didn't know.

Until something shot past him in the dark, and Kouji beside him turned.

'I know I definitely saw something that time.'

'Right. Execute, Spirit Evolution. Wolfmon.'

Ignoring the indignant cries from the other two, who were for a moment, thrown for a loop, he raised his saber into the air, calling for the power of light bestowed upon him to shed its revelation.

'Ancient Spirit of Light,' he cried, holding the light sword straight as it erupted with luminescence. Bright, hot light which shed its revelation upon all, and for a moment, nothing save darkness itself was spared of the uplifting of its veil.

Not even the child digimon who was now fleeing the scene.

But not fast enough to escape the angry flame.

'Execute, Spirit Evolution. Agunimon.'

He sprung after the other digimon, who weaved its path through the trees in an effort to avoid him. It failed however, as Takuya _knew_ the other had caused this conflict, and was determinedly pressing on.

So the holy beast turned and fired another Nightmare Syndrome to allow him to escape. With his life.

The spirits had to be destroyed. But life was always more important than the cause. He was too young to say otherwise.

Until flame tossed it aside like an irksome fly and revealed his ploy to the world.

'It isn't real. He's under a spell from Bakumon's Nightmare Syndrome.'

And as the gauntlets fired up, he found himself on the other end of the vengeful cannon.

* * *

The forest was dark. That was to be expected; it was nightfall after all, but there was an unsettling darkness about as well. As the warrior thereof, he had a certain affinity with it, and as such, he could sense the sea of turmoil, and unlike those nearer, he could also sense the cause.

He stopped in his tracks, causing the feline, who was comfortably seated upon his shoulder, to blink at him. 'Why'd you stop?'

In answer, he pulled out his D-scanner and activated the map. Five dots, each a different colour, blinked on the screen, nearing as each second passed, and just ahead of them, another, smaller dot, blinking and black, which signified the presence of a digimon nearby. There were also two similar dots following the five coloured ones.

The cat understood, and leapt off his shoulder to scurry up the nearest tree. 'A Bakumon,' she called down to him a moment later. 'He's entrapped the Warrior of Ice.'

'He turned them against each other?' Kouichi asked in horror, and then suddenly shielded his eyes as a beacon of light erupted from the forest ahead of them.

She lingered a moment, before shaking her head, leaping down into his arms. 'More like he's turned them all against him. Dug his own grave so to speak. Flame for one is looking rather vengeful.'

Then she closely peered at the other's face. 'You're not thinking what I think you're thinking, are you?'

The determined look was answer enough. 'No blood is getting spilt on my watch if I can help it.'

'Even if they deserve it?'

'Can there be a crime that entails death? And even if there is, who are we to judge?'

'Point.'

* * *

'Burning Salamander!' Agunimon cried, moving to unleash the fire he held – only to start as a sudden shout burst through the clearing, followed by the owner of the voice.

'Stop,' the boy panted again, looking vaguely familiar...though he was sure the other wasn't anyone he knew. Wolfmon beside him stirred, as though he recognised the other, but the more present problem of the Bakumon behind them.

Or not, as Izumi gave a sudden cry, as did the cat who had followed the boy, for different reasons. Tomoki was blinking, as though awakening from a dream; the human boy that is, not the rampaging Chakkmon they had been confronted with. And the Bakumun, his tail was badly burnt, and as BlackTailmon gently prodded it with Kouichi kneeling astride, a green ooze dripped out of it.

'Get the Trailmon to take you back,' the dark haired boy ordered softly. 'Angewomon should be able to heal your tail for you.'

'Didn't Buffalo leave?' the feline digimon asked, wandering what the human was thinking.

'Yes, but Mole should be arriving in a few minutes,' the other murmured, remembering the schedules from the Venus Rose.

'And how exactly is he going to get there?'

'I'll carry-'

'Ahem.' The two were suddenly interrupted by Agunimon. 'Who are you and what are you doing?'

The addressed looked between the two evolved warriors, before averting his gaze to his feet and replying. 'My name is Kimura Kouichi,' he answered softly, bowing as was the norm. 'And I just didn't want to see a digimon die when it could be prevented.'

Digi-code swirled, and Takuya stepped out. 'He turned Tomoki against us,' he hissed, pointing at the small boy, who was currently being smothered by Junpei, Izumi and Bokomon while Neemon looked on with a devolved Kouji. 'He deserves it.'

'He was only doing what he thought was right, in his own way,' the other protested. 'Can you fault him for that Takuya?'

Takuya blinked at the familiar way in which he had been addressed. 'I don't know you,' he said abruptly. 'Besides, he would have led us to our destruction if given the chance.'

'He was doing what he thought was right,' the other repeated. 'Is that not what you are doing?'

'We are doing what we _know_ is right,' the brunette said stubbornly.

Kouichi contemplated this, gathering up the injured (and now unconscious) digimon and standing, staggering a bit under the weight before maintaining his balance. 'Are you sure?' he asked.

'Yes,' came the reply.

He looked down a moment, before shrugging sadly. 'All right,' he assented. 'We'll take our leave then.'

He bowed again and slipped into the shadow of the trees, BlackTailmon following as silently as his shadow.

His words however burned in the other's mind, but for the moment, he pushed them aside. There was no reason as of yet to doubt his path, after all. So firmly on the path he would remain.

* * *

'What's wrong?' BlackTailmon asked, looking at her silent companion.

He sighed a little sadly, before answering. 'It's just...hard you have your family and friends so far away from you, even when they're within arm's reach.'

She didn't quite understand, but didn't call the other out on it. Darkness had a habit, after all, of being quite mystifying at times. It was to be expected then that the warrior thereof would be as well.


	5. Set Dead Straight

**Author's Notes**

1. Digimon are not purely made of data, as they contain a 'soul', so to speak. That 'soul', when the Digimon dies, goes to the Primary Database along with residual data. The link between the soul and the digital form results in the digital form adapting a slightly 'animal' reaction to certain things, so they are capable of feeling injury and pain from other Digimon attacks. Depending on the extent of the injury, they die. Electricity causes the connection between soul and body to short-circuit, so that results in death as well.

2. Humans, when they enter the Digital World, do not have the same structure as Digimon. They are less resilient in human form because their normal human bodies have become part digital, but are stronger in their Digimon forms because they still retain their human structure. Hence, when one of their spirits is destroyed, they can survive while still bonded to it, unlike Digimon who would die from the strain. Kouichi is a special case, so the above rules don't apply to him.

3. I drew a makeshaft map of the Digital World that works best for this story, so I didn't have the two (sometimes three) groups bumping into each other when they're _supposed_ to be on opposite ends of the world. In a nutshell, the Forest Kingdom (Continent of Wood) is pretty much directly north from the Continent of Fire. North from the Forest Kingdom are the Continents of Ice (which is the smallest mentioned continent) and Earth, Ice being west and Earth being east. The Continent of Water is east of the Continent of Earth and West of the Continent of Ice, and also drops down to join the Forest Kingdom on both sides (remember, it's a spherical shape). It's mostly water, so it's the largest continent. Now, north of those three continents is the Continent of Darkness, and the rest of the Continents don't come into the story, though it may be worth noting that another continent links Fire and Darkness.

4. The border of Forest and Earth is marshland, which also cuts directly through the Forest Kingdom. The TV forest and the Forest Terminal (as well as some other stuff which will show up later) are on the larger side, the one that goes east, while the other side contains a Nature Spirit village and the Fortune Telling one where Takuya got his beast spirit. It also contains the area where Kouji got his beast spirit, but that's not being written, only mentioned later on (in two chapters). The marshes are actually based of the Dead Marshes from Lord of the Rings, however there is a bit of a twists with the whole "following the lights" thing.

5. Remember the episode where Kouji got his beast spirit. How he ditched the others? He's done it again. But he comes back next chapter.

Next chapter's a prank gone bad, and another discussion between Takuya and Kouichi. It's called "When Doubts are Questioned", so stay tuned for that.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Digimon or the butterfly analogy. All I own is my writing and my trusty laptop.

Enjoy everyone.

* * *

**Butterflies' Flight**

AU. Like butterflies, they followed the flame, drawn to his light, despite that fact that following so blindly could potentially lead to corruption. And yet they shy away from the dark, the one thing that may save them yet...

Takuya K & Kouichi K

* * *

**Chapter 4 – Set Dead Straight**

The gentle wind greeted them when they awoke that morning, the sun beginning to shine through the leaves that sheltered the digimon and human. BlackTailmon, on a high branch, stretched nimbly, before yawning and leaping down onto the other's stomach, who was stirring himself.

The result was a heap of leaves and bodies...almost. As it were, Kouichi had managed to grab the branch he had been sleeping on, and BlackTailmon his jacket. So now they simply hung off like two monkeys.

Until the feline nimbly leapt off and the boy followed after, not so gracefully but with enough to save embarrassing injury.

'I'm not a cat,' he replied to the cat's amused giggle. The two had become quite good friends at the Venus Rose, and had taken to engaging in a friendly banter at times.

'Any reason I wasn't woken by loud kids trampling?' she wondered, striking a dead east path with other trailing behind. 'I'd figure, especially after the detour we took to drop off Bakumon, they would have caught up to us. Or we would have passed them on the way back.'

'That is weird,' Kouichi admitted. 'There's marshland in the other direction. They wouldn't have gone there.'

'Unless someone's leading them right through it.'

Kouichi brought out his D-scanner, activating the compass. Right at the opposite edge of the screen were five dots, accompanied with two smaller ones nearing the yellow outline that formed a semicircle, while on the opposite end was a brown one, presumable one of the missing beast spirits.

'Yep,' the feline smirked, who had stopped walking when the other had and was now comfortably perched upon his shoulder. 'Flame's leading them through it.'

And indeed, it was the red dot in the forefront of their procession.

* * *

'The marshes that skirt through the west of the forest are perilous for travellers, especially those who wonder alone,' Bokomon fretted. 'It's extremely dangerous. Why do we not simply go in the other direction?'

'You did say the closest village is in this direction,' Takuya pointed out at the forefront of their little possession. 'Besides, Kouji came this way.' Then he growled. 'Why couldn't he stay put?'

'Maybe it had something to do with that message he got,' Bokomon commented.

The others stopped walking. 'What message?' five voices asked.

Bokomon grabbed Neemon's waistband and snapped it. 'How could you forget?' he scolded. 'Do you _ever_ use your brain?'

And while Neemon deliberated an answer, the gnome-like digimon turned to the others as they resumed their journey. 'Kouji got a message last night, when the rest of you were asleep. The voice sounded female, and we couldn't hear what she said, but he left soon after and we lost sight of him somewhere around the small lake.'

A vein on Junpei's head twitched. 'You were going to follow and leave us alone?' Then he reconsidered. 'It might have been safer for him than being on his own.'

'Not that he seems to care,' the warrior of flame growled. 'Would it kill him to tell us first? Or just wait?'

'How is he going to get through the marshes?' Tomoki asked suddenly, cutting of Izumi's impending statement and effectively cutting off an unstarted argument. 'Didn't you say it was really dangerous for someone by themselves?'

But before he could answer, something, or someone, swooped down upon the six, causing them to scatter in avoidance.

They soon realised that diving aimlessly without looking at one's surroundings was an extremely foolish thing to do, as not only did half of them find themselves knee deep in mud and an unidentifiable mixture of other compounds, but a strong fog had suddenly descended, preventing them from seeing more than a few feet in front of them.

Out of sight of one another and half-blind, they were easy prey. Or would have been, had a rather amiable digimon village not dwelt on the other side, in which those two dwelt felt it was their duty to guide those who lose their paths.

* * *

'Takuya onii-chan!' Tomoki called, crawling to his feet. 'Takuya! Where are you?'

He stumbled forward a few paces, before tripping over something and falling again.

'Oww...' a muffled voice groaned.

Tomoki blinked, before catching sight of something pink in the brownness of the swamp.

'Oh I'm so sorry,' he gasped out, digging around the pink. 'I'll get you out of there in a minute.'

'Much appreciated,' came the reply, before the warrior of ice managed to move enough of the mud away to pull the digimon out.

She shook herself in pleasure, then hugged her long ears around the other's face.

'Thank you so much,' she squealed, letting go and hovering a safe distance. 'I thought I'd dissolve in there, and that my friends would never find me.'

'You're welcome,' he replied, smiling wildly. 'But who are you?'

'Oh, I'm Pucchiemon,' she introduced. 'I'm from the Village of Nature Spirits, on the other side of this marsh.'

'If you're from the village,' the young boy asked. 'Why are you here?'

'Digimon commonly get lost in these marshes,' she explained, relighting her light and beckoning him to follow. 'So us digimon try to help those who wonder here. But we sometimes get lost ourselves.'

Then seeing Tomoki lean down to close inspect the path they were treading, she cautioned in a soft voice: 'Don't look too closely.'

So he looked up. 'Do you know where the others are?'

'Others?' she asked. 'Like the one you were yelling for? That's how I found you, you know.' Then she thought a moment. 'I'm afraid I didn't see anyone, but that's probably the fog's fault. Come back with me, and we'll get Searchmon to search for your friends. Unless some of my siblings have found them first of course, in which case they'll be waiting.'

* * *

Izumi, Junpei and Neemon were indeed waiting, along with an assortment of digimon running around with various articles. A squirrel like one snatched the large orange hat of the small brunette's head and ran off with it, and before the boy could voice his indignation, he returned, the hat cleaned of mud and debris.

'Thanks,' he blinked, putting it on.

'You're welcome,' the digimon, a DORUmon, replied, scurrying off again.

Pucchiemon grinned at the boy. 'We'll pop you into a bath and find the rest of your friends. How many?'

'Another three,' he said. 'Takuya, Bokomon and Kouji.'

Then to check, he pulled out his D-scanner, which was mercifully dry, and activated the compass. The dot which signalled the warrior of light was still far ahead of them.

'Two,' he amended. 'Not Kouji.'

The armour digimon blinked at him. 'I am familiar with the Bokomon species, but what's a Takuya?'

'He's a human,' Izumi, snugly wrapped in a large fluffy towel, explained. 'About my age and height, in red with goggles, brown hair with a hat covering them, and brown eyes.'

'Okay.' The digimon gave her thumbs up, before bouncing off, presumably to find the Searchmon she had mentioned earlier.

'So,' Tomoki asked, turning to the other two, just before the digimon that appeared at his elbows, a group of Flybeemon, escorted him off to the stream for a much needed bath.

'How exactly did you wind up here?'

'Same way as you,' Junpei called, just as the little boy was dragged away. 'Following the lights.'

* * *

'Guys!' Takuya called. 'Where are you?'

He had been wondering around for awhile, looking for the others he had somehow lost in the dense fog, but so far he had no luck. Unless bad luck counted, as almost falling into a three meter hole filling up with mud by the minute would indicate. But he was yet to find his friends.

Until he stopped yelling, and heard a reply.

He raced towards the voice, stumbling and almost falling for the uptenth time along the way, to finally run into Bokomon, looking more like a brown gummy bear than the white gnome he was.

Not that the other looked much better.

'Bokomon,' he gasped. 'Have you seen the others?'

'I'm afraid not dear boy,' he said. 'It's difficult enough to keep both eyes off the path here.'

'Off the path?' he wondered.

'Well, digimon are deleted if they're stuck too long here, and the paths have a tendency to drag digimon down if you look too closely at them. It's got something to do with the binary code they are made of. Humans have never been here, so it's hard to say what could happen to them.'

'Not to worry,' a voice suddenly chirped above them, to be accompanied by a white light. 'Your friends are all already safe.'

The light illuminated the speaker, another Pucchiemon, only this time green.

'Ah,' Bokomon said, relieved. 'You're from the Village of Nature Spirits.'

'Sure thing,' she grinned. 'I'll take you. Just follow the light.'

Which was very easy to do, as it shone through the fog.

* * *

'That's odd,' Kouichi said, stopping eventually as the brown dot appeared exactly centre screen. 'The spirit should be right here.'

'You might want to take a look at what you're standing on,' BlackTailmon stated without a grin, leaping down, then running a few paces.

Kouichi looked, finding his feet, not on forest floor as he had thought, but rather a brown backbone, his left foot about an inch away from some rather sharp spikes.

He leapt off, just in time too, as the digimon he had accidently trodden on threw himself off the ground with a cry, none too pleased that his slumber had been disturbed.

'Who wake Gigasmon?' he roared, thumping his chest with his fists, before rounding on the human and digimon. 'You pay!'

'That's the beast warrior of Earth.' Kouichi gaped, before jumping out of the way as Gigasmon leaped for them. 'He looked a lot smaller in the picture.'

The earth-warrior landed hard, causing the ground surrounding to shake, and the human to cling to a nearby tree to maintain his balance as the feline skinned up it.

'Well Kouichi dear,' the cat hissed somewhere from above him as Gigasmon rounded on the two again. 'I think it's time you saw me at a new level.'

And before he could ask what she meant, blue data had encircled her, changing her form.

'BlackTailmon, super-evolve. LadyDevimon.'

And the demon lady spread her wings to meet her opponent head on.

But before that, a warning.

'Don't even think about evolving with that spirit Kouichi!'

* * *

Within another half our, the six were assembled on warm grass, clean from the mud that had assaulted him and warm from the tea they now comfortably sipped, now nice and full from a hearty mean, courtesy of the Nature Spirit digimon.

'Thank you so much,' Izumi said gratefully to the digimon that hovered aboht them. 'You're all so kind.'

'Not at all,' the only Piximon stated, waving his wand to move the dirty plates away. 'It's our duty and honour to help travellers in need.'

'Well, I suppose we had better go now,' the blonde sighed, standing. 'We need to find a friend of ours.'

'The human in the Gotsumon village?' the Piximon asked. 'Rest assured, he will join us by nightfall. I must insist you remain here till tomorrow.'

'Oh, we possibly couldn't,' she said, taken by the kind-hearted digimon.

'You must,' the digimon repeated. 'As the leader of this village, I offer you whatever lodgings you have.'

'_You_ lead here?' Takuya asked, taking in the size of the small digimon.

Tomoki, reading his thoughts, giggled. 'Great things come in small packages,' he giggled, causing Izumi to laugh too.

'Like you,' she agreed.

'And like us,' another voice added, before the grass they were sitting on suddenly caught fire, causing the digimon and humans to suddenly scatter.

Laughter filled the clearing, and a swarm of DemiMeramon made themselves apparent.

'It's our turn to have some fun,' the leader smirked, bringing his hands together. 'Fireball!'

Balls of fire exploded from his fingertips, setting more of the grass alight, as his companions spread towards the huts of the village folk and the trees surrounding. In an instant, the digimon were leaping at the digimon, trying to take down the in-training while several more adept in defence, like Piximon, attempted to stop the place from burning to cinders.

The Legendary Warriors soon joined the action too, Chakkmon icing the flames and Fairymon fanning then to gently coax them back to dormancy, while Blitzmon and Agunimon went after the DemiMeramon.

Unfortunately as they had no pure physical form, it was pretty much useless, especially as all fire and wind elementals, including Takuya, were simply fanning the flames. The water and ice elements, a select few, were too busy attempting to subdue the fire to be able to help, and Searchmon could only defect the fireballs, so it was a simply hopeless fight, with more harm than good resulting. Already, a Dorimon had been lost in the fireballs, and a Mikemon forced to retreat with severely burnt paws. And that was between the chaos; no one realy knew how many more innocent digimon had been hurt.

Until Junpei thought up of a plan.

* * *

'Just go down already,' LadyDevimon scowled, firing another Darkness Wave which only served to chip some of the armour.

'Me no defeat,' the other roared, tossing her to the ground and spinning to summon up a powerful attack. 'Quagmire Twister!'

'Oh dear,' the demon lady sighed, before snatching Kouichi off the ground seconds before the attack skewered the both of them, taking off with a powerful flap of her winds. 'This has gone on far enough. Poison!'

She didn't like using that attack, as it would utterly destroy the opponent to the point where rejuvenation is impossible, but the digimon was too powerful to take down any other way unless Kouichi evolved, which she was most certainly not going to allow. Despite what she had told Kouichi, she knew very well what could happen to him if he tried to control the uncontrollable, so her task was to protect him so he would never have to go through such an ordeal.

And their task was to destroy the spirits of the ten legendary warriors, the safety seal of the Digital World. Once that was done, the database would essentially reformat, 'deleting' the virus that ran through the cores of their world and kept it from achieving its final peace.

But if she could target the spirit instead of the soul, there was a chance that the poor digimon trapped within the beast form could survive with little scathe.

But the shriek of agony that ensured and Kouichi's reaction to it, even when half-trapped beneath her wings for safety, almost made her reconsider.

Almost...but not quite. After all, they had both agreed that it had to be done.

* * *

'Are you serious?' Takuya gaped. 'Keep on hitting them with distant attacks till they evolve?'

'It's our best bet,' he pointed out. 'We can't take them down until they're solid.'

'Point,' Shadramon agreed, aiming at one. 'Flare Blaster!'

The other digimon caught on, splitting into teams to take down the now multiplied DemiMeramon. Takuya and Junpei were handling a rather hyperactive one with a mix of fire and thunder, while one dangerously close to the main square was being assaulted by three Pucchiemon, two pink and one green, while a horde Mothmon and Butterflymon were on the other end of the clearing, stopping the DemiMeramon from assaulting the others.

Eventually, the digimon drove the DemiMeramon to the centre, where eventually, despite being mostly unhurt (as Mothmon's ability to suck a digimon's energy seemed to be doing the most damage) by the attacks, they evolved, into a collective Coronamon who stood proudly tall upon the ashes he had created.

'All right,' Agunimon yelled at him, being timely restrained by a struggling Blitzmon. 'What's your deal? Why did you come here and start burning this place down?'

'Why?' the other digimon laughed. 'Why not? I was bored, and that was good entertainment.'

'Entertainment?' It didn't look like Agunimon could be any madder. 'You call almost burning this place up and hurting and killing innocent digimon _fun_?'

Coronamon laughed. 'Why not?' he asked. 'They're just data after all.'

He paused at that, remembering Bokomon's explanation and his understanding of it. It had felt like then he had missed an integral part, and now that feeling returned full force.

And then it suddenly clicked. Like when they evolved with their spirits. There was far more depth than a simple, emotionless computer programme. There was feeling, there was spirit. Like humans, made of proteins and other compounds as well as a soul, there was more to a digimon than data. That was how they had different personalities, different strengths and weaknesses, how they could feel happy or sad or even bored.

He, in truth, had forgotten about that discussion after the incident involving the spirit of light. He figured now, that if he had thought about it properly then, he may have realised that fact sooner.

But would that have changed anything? After all, they were killing innocents all the same, and they needed to be stopped.

And they didn't have a heart if they could talk so callously about it.

Blitzmon let go of the hot-headed leader as fire burst from his gauntlets. 'He's going down,' the thunder bug growled, and Fairymon and Chakkmon, coming up behind him, agreed.

Coronamon smirked, before rolling himself into a ball of fire and leaping for Agunimon, who met him head on with his own gauntlets. Momentum was all that kept the rookie from being driven into the dust, but for all the good it did, as he was soon hit with a combination of thunder, wind and ice which skewered him as the warrior of fire let go and dodged the triple attack.

It was a bit much, but it did the job, and thankfully hid the consequences in the resulting fog as the ground soaked up its penitence and attempted to restore the burnt areas of the village.

The digimon lost, now found to be more than they had seen, all due to one single digimon who multiplied and spread havoc to lift his own boredom, put a serious damper on the victory.

But they were all of one mind. They had killed, and were killing, to prevent more innocent death.

To them, that was justifiable. After all, there was no two ways on flame's path.

* * *

The spirit was powerful, but that just amplified the force of the attack. After all, her poison used dark energy to twist the opponent's own powers and obliterate them from within, and the spirits were the most powerful of all powers in the digital world. After all, they supported the natural framework.

But soon, the spirit collapsed, though the fact that it was bonded made it that much harder, and the large armour faded away into empty shells, cracked from three places to reveal a lying Golemon whose own skin looked far worse for wear.

And on the screen of Kouichi's D-scanner, the brown dot flickered, and then disappeared, as the demon lady hovered above them both.

'He'll be okay,' she said, landing and allowing data to circulate her once more, reverting back to her champion form. 'And you better keep your fingers crossed that the next spirit we get our hands on has not sucked in some poor digimon.'


	6. When Doubts are Questioned

**Author's Notes**

The Dark Network - a hollow set of tunnels that run in each continent (except water because it's an ocean and wind because it's up in the air (a floating, moving continent)) but not crossing into each other's territories as far as most Digimon's knowledge go. They actually do cross, but only the Celestial Digimon and the Ancient Digimon at the current time know. The laws of physics don't really apply in them, so time in tunnels don't necessarily equate to real time in Digital World, which again doesn't equate to real time in the Human World. The relationship between the two world also changes should the digital world be 'reformatted'. The more metaphysical aspects of the Dark Network, like the Dark Continent, are widely misunderstood. Bokomon only knows what was written in the Book, who's information isn't quite correct to the matter. It is true that it absorbs the digi-code of the land above it, but it's purpose is to repair the damaged code and then return it. In other words, it is like the rejuvenator of the land. Lucemon's curse has however messed up with that, so the rejuvenation isn't happening like it should and consequently the digital world is, for lack of a better term, decaying. The Dark Network also has the ability to completely reformat should the case arise, however its ability is linked both ways to the safety programme (ie. the Ten Warrior Spirits). The fact that they (ie. the spirits) can be destroyed means both are corrupted thanks to Lucemon so the spirits have to be destroyed to unlock the reformatting/rejuvenation of the Digital World. The Dark Network also links numerous other things, like the Spirits of Darkness, the wraths from Cherubimon's castle, and the darkness of people from both words. That doesn't mean it is all presented to a person at the same time.

Neemon happens to be right about the legend. Unfortunately, being Neemon, the others didn't put too much stock in his words. That's actually explained in the sequel (after I realised the epilogue leaves quite a bit hanging)

Just thought I'd make that clear, seeing as Bokomon doesn't know the whole story himself and can't tell you all.

Next chapter: Soothing the Savage Beast. Takuya's beast spirit makes an appearance, but Takuya soon comes to realise that there's a lot more to strength than raw power.

Enjoy.

* * *

**Butterflies' Flight**

AU. Like butterflies, they followed the flame, drawn to his light, despite that fact that following so blindly could potentially lead to corruption. And yet they shy away from the dark, the one thing that may save them yet...

Takuya K & Kouichi K

* * *

**Chapter 5 – When Doubts are Questioned**

'Where the hell were you?' Takuya exploded, once a dishevelled Kouji found himself in the Village of Nature Spirits.

'Garmmon,' was the only reply that was given.

'Huh?'

'Garmmon,' Bokomon explained. 'Is the Beast Warrior of Light. I believe it is said they're the less affable aspect of the Legendary Warrior's power.'

'What does that mean?' Neemon asked, blinking innocently and consequently earning himself a snap on the waistband and an accompanying stinging sensation.

'It means,' Bokomon answered, painfully slowly. 'That they are harder to control.'

The warrior of light flushed lightly in embarrassment, but didn't deny nor affirm it.

* * *

'You're awfully quiet,' BlackTailmon commented while her human companion wringed out his jacket to use as a washcloth.

'I was just thinking...' the dark haired boy replied, staring distractedly into his reflection before abandoning it.

'Again.' The feline sighed, following. 'Seriously dear, you worry too much about things. If you were a digimon, you'd be a shrivelled up shell of data before you're dead.'

'We have similar sayings in our world,' Kouichi said, slightly sadly. 'Getting wrinkles in your face, or getting grey hair in your youth...'

'What's wrong with grey hair?' the digimon said, slightly affronted, licking her own dark grey, almost black, fur.

'It's a sign of old age and wisdom in humans.'

'Humans sure are different from digimon,' BlackTailmon yawned.

'But they share a lot of similarities as well.'

By then, the two were back at their temporary campsite and the unfortunate Golemon who had fallen prey to the earth spirit. Only, they found a beaten Gotsumon in his place.

'It happens sometimes,' BlackTailmon explained to the baffled Kouichi. 'When the data is badly disturbed, a lot of the disrupted files are sort of deleted and sent to the Primary Databank while the remaining data reassembles itself to a lower energy form. Later on, when a Digimon has built up enough digital energy, they may be able to digivolve again to their previous level. Most of the time however, the data becomes too unstable and is entirely deleted and reformatted in the Databanks.'

'Are they still the same?' Kouichi asked, looking at the unconscious form. 'Or do their personality and memories reflect their form?'

'It depends,' the feline answered. 'Most change to reflect, but legend has it that those with strong bonds with another spirit retain their memories. The only ones that would fall into that category in this world are the legendary warrior's spirits, bonded to the new Chosen.'

'The kids from the TV forest?'

'Not necessarily. Unlike the spirit of darkness, the other eight aren't too picky about who bond. This,' she gestured at the Gotsumon, 'is proof of that.'

Having already knelt down and begun bathing the wounds, Kouichi looked up. 'You only mentioned nine in total?'

'Because it's darkness that defines light,' came the reply.

'Defines in what way?'

BlackTailmon shrugged. 'Nature dictates there must be a bond, and there was certainly one between the warriors of light and dark of old, but the truth of their nature remains as clouded in mystery as the spirits of darkness themselves.'

Even though he wasn't satisfied with the answer, he let the matter go when noting the darkening hue of her golden eyes, as he always had with his mother and grandmother before.

* * *

The five legendary warriors were on their way the next morning, leaving behind a duller but safer Nature Spirit behind them.

'So where are we going next?' Tomoki asked to Bokomon who had taken it upon himself to remain a step and a half in front of the humans so that they would have no choice _but_ to follow.

'The Akiba market,' Bokomon responded. 'A little wisdom and knowledge never went amiss, and it's better than walking blind.'

'Meaning?' Junpei questioned.

'Meaning that guidance is always offered to those who travel through. Provided you can tell the real deals from the fakes of course. Digimon tend to get carried away during the festive.'

'Uh huh,' Takuya mumbled, looking at something ahead. 'And would this market happen to be on ice?'

'What gave you that idea?' Izumi blinked. 'We are in the middle of a forest.'

The brunette pointed at the sheet of ice on the horizon ahead of them, shimming in the post dawn light, and upon that, something silver.

The white gnome blinked, looked at his book, and blinked again. 'Could be,' he mumbled, sounding plainly confused. 'But I was sure we're not near the border of the Forest Kingdom yet. To my knowledge we're still above the Dark Network.'

'The Dark Network?' the warrior of thunder repeated. 'I don't like the sound of that.'

'It's a thing all digimon innately fear,' Bokomon responded. 'Physically, it's simply a system of hollow tunnels that runs below the surface of the Digital World, never actually crossing borders into other Continents but making days travels in the blink of an eye. However on a more metaphysical level it is said to absorb the vitality of the land, and to an extent, life itself. It is the thing said to be responsible for the decline and chaos of our world, though not physically existing in such a manner, it seems impossible to destroy. Legend has it however that the Legendary Warriors have the power to do so.'

'I thought it went "they have the power to defeat the demon",' Neemon wondered aloud, scratching his head.

'Of course not you twit,' Bokomon snapped. 'That's preposterous.'

'What does the book say?' The youngest in the group asked as they neared the ice.

'Nothing actually,' the keeper responded. 'The writer was evidently more concerned with remarks he could validate.'

By then, the seven pairs of feet had stepped onto the ice, and conversation was halted as they paused in the glimmer from the sun's rays.

'Uurgh, too bright,' Junpei mumbled, rubbing his eyes and trying to make sense of his surroundings.

Takuya moved a hand up to his goggles with the full intention of slipping them over his eyes and lessening the glare, when the sudden memory of a similar flash, accompanied by the words that followed, stopped him.

_You are flame. You have the power to lead, and where to do, others follow. You have the power to own, and what you do, others trail after in envy, only able to see the glow that beckons them._

Then the light vanished abruptly, as did the ground they stood on.

* * *

'Shinya?' Takuya stared at his younger brother, standing with the sun framing his form. 'What-how did-' For a moment, he was as a loss for words, especially as there were several things nagging on his mind.

He was sure his brother was still at home. Heck, he had stepped over him on the way-

The train of thought cut off suddenly as the ton of realisation's bricks slammed down upon him.

Sure, he and his brother fought like every brotherly pair. But he had never, never, being so cold to him. Fighting was always better than plain invisibility, and like typical boys their age, it was the way they showed their affection towards each other (and their many frustrations, not all aimed at the other). Of course, lately things had been drifting apart...he had just never realised how much until he saw the eight year old standing there, until he saw Tomoki in those shoes, the little boy who suffered his brother's wall and complained as all little brothers do, until he remembered low long it had been since the two (he and Shinya that was) had anything more than the slightest conversation...but then again, it wasn't like Shinya made too much of an effort himself.

The boy however, contraire to previous behaviour on both their parts, grinned widely, gesturing at the older sibling. 'Come on Ni-san! I want to show you something!'

Confused but curious, he followed, not even noticing the world around him growing darker by the step.

Whatever happened next faded into a blur. But while the leading light source cast away the shadows, the darkness beneath held the knowledge. Till light no longer shied away...when the offered was finally acknowledged and accepted.

In the end, there is no too late.

* * *

For the longest time, he would not remember nor understand what happened next. He remembered the feeling of something black pressing against the inner compartments of his body before a bright flash of light triggered its release...and the searing pain of skin burning as he heard someone, a woman, singing in his ear...until he felt the warm breath tingling and fire suddenly searing through his form, banishing whatever held him in his grip...or perhaps bound him tighter.

_ 'Darkness will not win,'_ the soothing voice whispered in his ear as the blank white escape dazzled his vision. _'The flame is already beckoning...'_

The light pierced straight through the wide brown eyes, reflecting off something...glassy, which made him think the ice below his feet was responsible...only, there was nothing below his feet.

Too tired though...his eyelids were already slipping over their charge, and the warm fire somewhere near him beckoned to comfort and rest. For a moment, he wondered how he could possibly sleep with all the light, but no sooner had the thought crossed his mind that something cool suddenly draped over his closed vision and his eyes snapped open.

* * *

The brown eyes snapped open, as did his mouth, presumably to snap at the cause of his rather rude awakening...only to inhale a large quantity of water. He attempted to choke and splutter it out on reflex, only for his stinging sight to take in the fact that it was impossible...mainly due to the fact that he was underwater.

Above him, the light shimmered bright. Below, it cascaded down into a spiral of darkness. Due to his unawareness, he had less than a minute of oxygen; indeed, his head was already starting to spin, so he quickly, or as quickly as his still catching up limbs allowed, struck out towards the surface.

The light was deceiving though, internally reflecting throughout the water's depths, and the surface turned out to be father than he thought. Indeed, it was just out of head's reach, as even as the fingertips touched air, they fell again with no oxygen to supply them, and the darkness crawled closer.

His lungs desperately craved for air, and he took in another deep breath, willing the water to feed him life ...then two things happened at once: the dizziness faded as the first breath was followed by several more, and something hooked around his waist and pulled him the rest of the way to the surface.

Takuya was a tad annoyed at that; his newfound discovery was ruined by a rescue that came a second late (he conveniently forgot that he had, till a few seconds ago, genuinely believed himself to be drowning and so his body had been responding to its thoughts). Even more so when the figure, black hair plastered to his skull thanks to the water, resembled one of two people; either a guy who alternated between a rival and an antisocial jerk, or the boy who had interrupted their fight with Bakumon. A closer look defined him as the latter; the clothes were a bit of a giveaway, even though the other had slipped off his green overshirt.

Remarkable...he hadn't even noted the resemblance until seeing one soaked to the bone. But an unexplained resemblance was far from his mind at the time when Chakkmon's little rampage came back to mind.

'Do work for Cherubimon?' he asked immediately, striking out for the nearest shoreline and ignoring the other's concern.

The other followed after allowing a little distance. 'Not exactly. I am sort of working with him, but that doesn't mean I entirely agree to his methods.'

'Who are you?' was the next question. 'And how do you know my name?'

There was a slight pause, before a slightly wounded sort of reply. 'You already know the answers to both questions.'

'If I knew, I wouldn't be asking.'

'Yes you would.' The other muttered. 'There were times you'd do that just to drive me up the wall.'

Takuya by then had climbed onto the bank. 'Stop acting like you know me,' he snapped, irritated by the boy. He really had no idea who the other was; not even the slightest inkling.

The other fixated him with a piercing glare, climbing out and wringing out his shirt, a strange expression crossing his face. 'What don't you remember?'

The brunette took a double-take at the question. 'What sort of question was that?'

'A perfectly valid one I think,' the boy sighed. 'But perhaps not the best way to phrase it. Where did you live before moving to Shibuya?'

'Itabashi,' the other replied after thinking a little to recall the answer, not looking too thrilled but going along with it. After all, he had questions too, so they might as well play the game.

'School?'

He took a little longer to remember. 'Itabashi Elementary School.'

'What grade did you leave?'

'I can't remember,' Takuya scowled. 'Three or four maybe. What does it matter?'

'You were in fifth,' Kouichi said, ignoring the other's question. 'Do you remember any friends? Any significant events?'

'That's hardly any of your business,' the flame warrior growled, getting seriously close to nagging as the questions connected too close to home, even if quite a bit of the puzzle was missing. 'And I believe I asked you a question?'

'Why it matters?' Kouichi asked, before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. 'Takuya...'

'Don't call me that,' the boy shouted, causing the other to back away in surprise. 'Who are you to just show up thinking you know me when you don't?'

'Did,' the other muttered, turning away and trying to sort out his thoughts. 'Past tense. Apparently, I don't know you anymore. The old Takuya was always so full of life and energy. That Takuya didn't know anger, or frustration.'

'Are you going to answer the question?'

'Honestly...Kanbara-_san_-'

Now that just felt plain weird...and wrong. Like they were closer than that. 'Don't-' he muttered, sounding rather different and not understand why, before he realised how odd he sounded. Heck, that last statement sounded completely contrary to the rest of the conversation, as well as opposing the whole previous years when his personality took a strike to its core.

'What do you want me to call you then?' Kouichi asked, his own tone sounding rather...odd. He then shook his head. 'You asked me if I was fighting for Cherubimon. Who are you fighting for?'

'To save the Digital World.'

Another pause. 'Sometimes you have to destroy to save.'

'So you think it's fair to write off a whole world? This place is data, so who's to say the problems with the code can't be simply fixed with a computer.'

'This world is a lot more complex than code. It's real.'

'I realise that.'

'In what way? I think it's more a chance for you to get something.'

The brown eyes narrowed. 'What are you saying?'

'What I'm saying, is that you were more than willing to kill that Bakumon, despite him no longer being a threat and your friend free from his nightmare. Are you really that callous to kill just like that? Are you willing to dish out a price too high for anything short of death itself, and even then perhaps too much?'

Something about that statement clicked, and the other must have noticed, because he took that opportunity to take his leave with one last statement.

'Think about it,' he said quietly, turning slightly. 'And take care of your friends.'

'In case you didn't notice,' Takuya called after him. 'They're not here.'

'Oh right.' Kouichi stopped walking, before pulling the map up on his D-scanner. 'The fastest way would be the way you came. Dive down to the bottom, and focus on your friends.'

_Focus on my friends_, Takuya thought sarcastically. _Great advice. So how did I wind up here in the first place? And why the hell would I listen to someone I can't trust?_

Now that he thought about it, what had he been thinking about before the lake?

And on another thought, what was there to lose? After all, he had already established he couldn't drown. Not literally anyway.

* * *

'What was that all about?' BlackTailmon asked curiously, landing neatly on top of Kouichi's head as he passed under the branch she had been napping on.

'A parting of old friends,' came the nostalgic reply.

'So you're giving up on him?' The feline hissed, slightly angrily. 'Just because he's being a jerk.'

'That's not why,' Kouichi whispered, looking straight ahead into the shade of the trees. 'He's not the same person I once knew. But I didn't say I was giving up. Parting never partook eternity.'

The ears twitched a little, before the Adult shook her head. 'Really, must you be so mysterious?' Then, after a brief pause, she added: 'It's probably one of those avoidable bits of your personality. But do you mind giving a clearer translation for this dear kitty?'

'Well...I can't really say,' the other mused. 'There's so many things in this world that feel wrong that nothing feels right anymore. _I_ don't feel right...as if I don't even know myself anymore.'

'Maybe you're just discovering a new side to yourself?' the feline suggested.

'Maybe...but it just feels wrong. But if I can't fix what's wrong with myself, how can I help others?'

'Whoever said you were the only one dishing out help? You're saving others, and somewhere out there, there's someone ready to save you.'

'If only it were that simple...'

All the same, he couldn't help but hope it was.

* * *

Although he wasn't expecting anything _bad_ to happen per say, he also hadn't been expecting to crash into Kouji. Apparently, Kouji hadn't been expecting him either, as he had the oddest look on his face, as though he had been suddenly jerked from a dream.

He stood, turned, and realised why. Behind him was a lady of about thirty or so years, hair and eyes identical to the warrior of light, a mauve shirt...

''kaa-san?' Was that Kouji's voice. It sounded so weak, so vulnerable, nothing like how he had ever expected the lone wolf warrior to sound. But it was an understandable reaction; Kouji's mother was after all dead.

But the happiness was spreading over the other's face. Perhaps there was a life after death. Or-

'Guys!'

That was Tomoki's voice, but it wasn't the younger boy panting up that stopped the other two in their tracks. It was what he said next.

'That's a shapeshifter!'

He was pointing directly at the woman before them.

And in that instance, Kouji's face broke. From a mirror shattered as the dream it held crumbled, to anger, sadness and loneliness that hid behind, and before, that facade. But above all that was hurt, because he had hoped, for the barest moment, that it really had been his birthmother, the woman he had pined after for eight long years, wishing her to life and love with him as he drifted further and further away from his father. The mother who had forged his ideals of the world, the one who had caused him to take up the mask and the persona of the white wolf who's sword he now seized as well.

And indeed, it was then Wolfmon who stood, Agunimon joining him as the anger following the play of his friends spread. Because now Junpei and Izumi had arrived too, the latter with tears running down his cheeks and the former with a sense of desolation.

He turned back to the woman, who smiled openly before morphing into another figure. His brother.

And his resolve hardened. Already, the other conversation fled his mind.

_No-_one messed with his friends like that and got away with it.

A laser beam began the parry were weaknesses were too easily covered by flimsy coatings. Flame bursting from gauntlets followed as the childish face turned to fear, and then hate.

In a matter of minutes, the disguise was shed, revealing a ghost-like digimon, classified by a late Bokomon as Bakemon.

A few minutes later, a part of the forest lay in ash, and the Child digimon pressed to a tree with Fire's wrath ready to blast him into oblivion.

Another minute...and he was yet to do so.

Because something was nagging in his mind. The image of his brother running, calling to him; the digimon in front of him was just a Child like them...

...and suddenly, his own words were coming back to haunt him.

Unfortunately for him, the other picked up the cues.

'It's not so easy killing someone when they're at your mercy, is it?'

His heart skipped a beat at that.

'What's the matter?' he taunted. 'Touched a nerve?'

'Shut it,' the warrior snarled, sick of the spiralling game of confusion. 'What were you playing at?'

'I was just playing,' the Bakemon replied, sounding rather like a snotty little brat. 'You don't have to be so mean.'

'It's not a game when you mess with me and my friends,' the other hissed, territorial instincts flaring there. 'It's a line you've crossed over. _**Burning**_**-'**

'Wait! Stop!'

Takuya, for the second time, stopped short, as a slightly larger digimon with a hat glided up and began apologizing profoundly. 'I'm so sorry. My son sometimes gets a little out of control. He didn't mean any harm, honestly. He's just the hyperactive type, you know kids these days-'

Before he quite knew what he was doing, he had released the other, who had scurried to hide behind the Adult...a female he presumed from the pink hat on the hat.

Another round of apologies, and the two were gone.

And his thoughts, for the time being, remained trapped with the family he had almost broken with his own hands.

Until he noticed the flash of data behind him, and Kouji's blank expression as he sat where he stood.

'Hey Kouji?' That was Junpei, albeit awkwardly. 'Are you okay?'

'Yeah.' He wasn't fooling anyone. 'I just hoped...for a second...that it really had been her?'

No-one really knew what to say, each thinking about the form presented to them, or about the differences they had revealed about each other; Izumi's regret, Kouji's loneliness, Junpei's lack of self confidence, his own anger and protective instinct...not letting ties he held break and so using other broken ties to bind them...

Apparently, he still had a lot to learn. They all did.

'Takuya?'

He blinked at the smaller brunette pulling at his glove.

'You did the right thing.' And the ice warrior beamed at him, a wide smile radiating truth.

And the other returned it. He was right. It didn't matter how close he had come to the wrong...as long as the right prevailed at the end.

After all, wasn't that what life was all about? The criss-crossed roads of fate that led to the ultimate abode?


	7. Soothing the Savage Beast

Tomoki has lost his spirit to Gigasmon (this was before Kouichi and BlackTailmon found him. Gigasmon moved fast, so the D-scanner predicted where he'd be by the time their paths crossed). Izumi hasn't, because...well, you'll find out later why I couldn't take Fairymon.

The Akiba market in Frontier and the Autumn Leaf Fair are the same thing. You'd notice that Bokomon called the village they stopped in the Akiba market. The fair just moves around. He expected it to be in the Ice Continent based in the time it would have taken to get there, but Gigasmon sort of sped things up (until he left and then crashed into Kouichi and BlackTailmon in the other direction) so they got there before it left the Forest Kingdom. The Akiba market will be in the Ice Continent when Tomoki gets his beast spirit.

Enjoy, and tell me what you think.

Up next: Trodden Path. Takuya has to face the consequences of his actions during his rampage of uncontrollable power, while they all face the frightening possibility of having made the wrong choices.

* * *

**Butterflies' Flight**

AU. Like butterflies, they followed the flame, drawn to his light, despite that fact that following so blindly could potentially lead to corruption. And yet they shy away from the dark, the one thing that may save them yet...

Takuya K & Kouichi K

* * *

**Chapter 6 – Soothing the Savage Beast**

The temporary three-some were on another Trailmon, this time Franken, journeying roughly back the way they had come to drop the Gotsumon off at his village next to the Akiba market at its current location and look for the remaining spirits, as Kouichi's D-scanner revealed no more in the area at the time, though he was sure there had been two in varying directions when he and BlackTailmon had stood in the TV forest. As for their addition, they couldn't leave the lone digimon on his own, and the Child seemed more than happy at the prospect of company.

Even if it was only a cat for the time being, as Kouichi had stretched himself across the seat and fell asleep, taking the granted opportunity.

After all, the road was bound to get rockier ahead, even if they were heading towards ice.

* * *

'Takuya?' Izumi asked, slowing down slightly to let Junpei pass her. 'You're being quieter than usual.'

They all were, the humans in any case. Perhaps it was the old scars that had been dug up by the shape-shifting Bakemon...except Tomoki, who looked oddly pleased about something and not so much the other two already mentioned. It was him and Kouji...no, it was only Kouji. His problem wasn't illusion; it was reality.

'It's just that...' He faltered slightly, before starting over. 'I have a little brother, back in the human world. His name's Shinya, same age as Tomoki but completely different in personality. I always used to see him as a bratty little brother that always got in the way. He'd get me in trouble, start my games over, ruin my stuff, and always try to hang out with me when I'm with other people. He just had a way of annoying me, you know? The way the guys at school who have siblings complain about them, it sounds rather normal.'

'I wouldn't know,' the half-Italian admitted. 'I don't have any siblings. I'm an only child.'

'Like Kouji,' their unofficial leader realised. 'And Junpei.'

'Tomoki has an older brother though,' Izumi pointed out. 'If it is normal, his complaints would sound on par with your brother's.'

'That's one of the things that's bugging me,' Takuya admitted. 'Look at him. He looks happy about something, even though he's lost his spirit to that crazy Gigasmon. If everyone faced their insecurities, does that mean he's realised something about his relationship with his brother that I've missed with mine? I can't even remember the last time I made him laugh or happy or anything. I can't even remember the last time I looked at him properly. If it hadn't been for that Bakemon, it almost felt like I would have forgotten him completely.'

Even as he said the words, he realised how true that was, and suddenly, he wanted his brother to love him as he once did, idolise him and tag behind him as he wondered through the world. 'He'd love this place,' he commented, before remembering another titbit of information that struck another chord. 'It was his birthday, the day we came to the digital world. And I never even wished him happy returns.'

'Then do that when you go home,' the only female in the group responded. 'Say you're sorry, and start over.'

'Do you want to go home yet?' Takuya asked suddenly, stopping his trek completely.

Izumi stopped walking as well, looking in surprise at the brunette. 'Well...not really. I mean, sure I miss my family, and would rather not have to fight, but there's so much I'm learning here. It feels like I'm becoming a new person, learning more about myself, and about others too. I think this world is making me stronger, and I don't want to leave till I know I'm as strong as I can possibly be.'

'I think it's the same with me,' the other admitted. 'As Agunimon, it feels like there's an unlimited amount of power and potential. Here, it's like there's a world of opportunity at my disposal, and what I do really affects things. I don't want to let that go yet.'

There was such intensity in his voice that a small frown danced across the other's face, but she said nothing as she noted the others leaving them behind.

'We almost lost them,' she said instead, racing after the three humans and two digimon ahead of them, skirt dancing around her knees.

Takuya watched her go, enthralled in the golden locks flying behind her, before running himself to catch up.

Even if he had wanted to, he realised at a later stage. He wouldn't have been able to leave her. Leave them. There was a selfish little monster in him that desired them all, and more, not only for what they were but for what they gave. And could give.

He also realised later when he reflected back on the past that he was extremely lucky he was so young. After all, there was much more to be desired from the possibilities ahead, but power and love were the two main heads that reared.

'Well,' Bokomon, from the front of the possession, announced. 'Here we are. Akiba Market.'

The comment was, however, unnecessary, as they could all see the fair in progress themselves.

They could also see the boomerang flying at them in their awe, and luckily ducked, as a Sepikmon bounded up. Only, one of their members forgot what boomerangs were known for, and so Neemon was wandering around dizzy for the next half hour after taking a blow to the head with the wood.

* * *

BlackTailmon had somehow been roped into a game of checkers with Gotsumon, something she would never admit in the Venus Rose (it was something rather unbecoming for the night guardian to be caught doing) but was enjoying all the same. The rocks, courtesy of the Gotsumon who seemed to be able to supply them in abundance, occasionally flashed purple, but neither of the two players picked up on it until the flashing increased.

'Huh?' the feline looked around in confusion, before locating the source of the flashing in Kouichi's jacket pocket. 'Oh, it's the D-scanner.'

She thought for a minute, before leaping up cleanly and landing on Kouichi's stomach. Only this time, it failed to wake him up.

So she whipped her tail around and ticked him under the nose. It took a little longer, and a few misaimed swats, before the boy was half-awake, and a sneeze and some eye-rubbing later before he was coherent enough to notice the flashing himself.

He pulled the scanner free from his pocket and activated the compass. 'That's new,' he commented, still a little drowsy. 'They have two spirits that are blue but are missing the one that's white. So they found the beast spirit of light but the human spirit of ice was destroyed?'

'That would sum it up,' BlackTailmon agreed. 'But that doesn't explain what the scanner is reacting to.

'Beast spirit of fire,' Kouichi replied, expanding the range. 'I think. It's not too far from the others.'

'Should we just leave them to it then? There's no point going after it if they're going to get it first.'

'Perhaps, but we have to cross the Akiba market anyway. And I'm starting to get another signal past that.'

'We're only a half hour away,' Franken commented. 'Provided we're not stopped by more fare-evaders.'

'Thank goodness Cherubimon gave us spare passes,' BlackTailmon muttered under her breath. 'Trailmon being so peculiarly stubborn, and yet cowards when it matters.'

Luckily, Franken hadn't heard. Or the three would be off the Trailmon faster than she could cough up a furball.

Kouichi on the other hand, had. Though his punishment wasn't quite as severe.

'BlackTailmon,' he chided, though not unkindly.

'It's the truth,' she said innocently, as the Gotsumon simply stared at them, having lost the conversation when it started, and the game just before that.

* * *

'Thank goodness we're away from those crazy guys,' Junpei sighed in relief as they left behind the tipsy Gekomon. 'Why'd you want us to come here anyway Bokomon? These guys are off their rocker.'

'Admittedly, some are frauds,' Bokomon said in reply, still leading the way. 'But you can gain true wisdom from some.' He gestured at a large shrine as he said this, before hopping up the steps, doors opening to admit the new guests.

'Who goes there?' a voice echoed from the darkness, to which Bokomon calmly replied: 'Weary travellers in need of guidance.'

There was an odd laugh, before the digimon who had spoken lumbered into view. 'Guidance eh? Then that is what you shall receive.'

He finally came into the light, and he looked so much like the Goburimon from the Wind Factory Incorporated that Takuya, Izumi and Junpei were all about to attack him right then and there, only to be halted by Bokomon.

'Guys,' he protested. 'This is Shamamon.'

'But he looks like those Goburimon in the Wind Factory,' Izumi pointed out, though the three relaxed slightly.

'Believe me Izumi, Shamamon is a good digimon, always ready to help travellers.'

With Bokomon vouching for the tyrant look-alike, the warriors lowered their D-scanners as the priest-like digimon approached.

'Ah,' he sighed, turning from one to the other. 'Many trials you all will face. But you must learn to see beyond the sun in your face to truly overcome them.'

Takuya gave the digimon an incredulous look. 'That's advice?' He sounded sceptical too, which the other picked up on.

'Ah, you will face the greatest trial,' Shamamon cried, waving his bone club around. 'What you need to do is remember who your friends are.'

'Huh?' If it was possible, Takuya looked even more confused. 'I know who my friends are.'

'You know now,' the digimon countered. 'But that is not enough. And you do not know as much as you think you know.

'Right...like that made a whole lot of sense.'

'I have to agree,' Kouji rolled his eyes. 'This is getting us no-where.'

'The sun is exceptionally bright in your face,' Shamamon commented, much to his surprise. 'Not so much on you thee.' Here, he waved his club at Izumi, Tomoki and Junpei, all wearing identical looks of confusion. 'You, on the other hand,' he began towards Takuya, but he was interrupted by the ground cracking outside.

'What was that?' Junpei, being nearest to the door, asked. Then he reworded his question upon seeing the cause of the sudden chaos. 'What _is_ that?'

Bokomon came around to look. 'Oh dear,' he cried. 'A gang of Golemon. Be careful of their sulphur fumes.'

The Golemon chose that moment to spray the purple gas, the five digimon immediately running out of the shrine and four of them reaching for their fractal code as their powerless fifth cursed his helplessness.

'Thanks for the warning,' Takuya muttered, not ungrateful but currently occupied. 'C'mon guys.'

Four D-scanners were raised to the sky, and the battle cry shouted.

'Execute, Spirit Evolution!'

Then four of the ten legendary warriors joined the fray.

* * *

Shamamon watched from the temple as the warriors rushed into battle.

'You should really learn to listen,' he commented, though of course, no-one heared.

Turning to go inside once more (he wasn't about to risk getting fried in the crossfire), he suddenly paused, feeling something at the back of the temple calling to him.

Walking over to it, he finds light beckoning. A little closer, power and control. A little closer still: lust. Then...nothing, save the unquenchable flames that burst out.

And the sin had claimed another life for its own, as the beast spirit of flame devoured his consciousness.

* * *

'Man, what's with these guys,' Blitzmon groaned, hitting a Golemon with a Thor hammer only to accomplish nothing.

'I was going to ask the same thing,' Agunimon groaned, unleasing another Burning Salamender to knock one into Fairymon's wind.

'This isn't working,' Wolfmon had to agree with the others, seeing as his laser had only managed to leave a small hole in one arm and his kendo swords even less. 'What are these guys doing anyway?'

'Well,' Bokomon helpfully input from his spot behind a rock with Tomoki. 'They aren't exactly the brightest of creatures.

'They could do something other than trying to destroy this place,' Fairymon grumbled, trying to kick the Golemon away. 'Aargh, this is hopeless. What do we need to knock some sense into them.'

A barrage of fire suddenly answered her question.

* * *

'Anyone up for a hot fudge?' Franken commented just as they were about to stop before the Akiba market. It was a bit of an understatement though; the market was in chaos. Digimon running for sanctuary in all directions, those seeing the Trailmon making a beeline for it, while in the middle, firing at both the Golemon and the Legendary Warriors, was...

'Vritramon?' Kouichi asked, not really sure. He hadn't pictured the image in Wisemon's textbooks to be this large in real life. Nor this...fiery.

'Oh yeah,' BlackTailmon agreed. 'And he's about to burn the market to bits.'

She bounded off at that, Gotsumon following. The human made to follow them too, but then decided to focus on the more urgent task of evacuation.

After all, it was better to save them the painful fate of being burnt to death.

* * *

The Golemon were no match for the new edition, identified by Bokomon to be the beast warrior of flame, much to Takuya's confusion.

'How the hell-' he began, only to duck the fiery missiles. He retaliated with darts of his own, only to be blown back by the sheer force.

'Stop talking and more fighting,' the slide evolved Garrmon growled, fiering a laser which caused the other, dragon-like monster, to change his focus and shoot a torrent of fire, almost wave-like, at him.

'Breeza Petalo,' Fairymon yelled, letting wind fly from her fingertips to push back the oncoming wave. 'Guys! Some help!'

As Garrmon shot forward like lightning, Vritramon found himself assaulted by Blitzmon's fists. In the distraction, Agunimon managed to get close enough for his Salamander Break to score a hit...only for something unexpected to happen.

Deep within the human, the spirit's consciousness called out to his other half. The beast responded, and before anyone could take a breath, not even noting the Gotsumon and BlackTailmon that had suddenly dispatched the last Golemon who had been forgotten, the spirit had left the body of its former host in favour of combination with its human half.

Shamamon fell from the sky, body charred and burnt as the skin began to crumble into ash. But there wasn't time for the horror to catch them, as the human and beast spirits met in the heart of a human not yet ready to hold the responsibility of that power.

Takuya was stubborn, and in a battle of wills, was known to emerge victorious. But this was different. It wasn't a fight against others; it was a fight against himself, and his own faults and insecurities. And he realised he just wasn't ready to face them yet. In fact, only at the end of one war could he begin to understand them, and the fake sun suddenly go out as the real one kept its distance on the horizon as it should.

But as it was, it was the beast, not the human within, in the new evolution.

'Takuya?' Junpei asked, still Blitzmon and looking a tad apprehensive at the sudden beast evolution. 'You gonna devolve.'

'Duck,' Garrmon suddenly yelled, leaping on him and knocking him to the ground. Just in time too, as bullets of fire suddenly flew overhead. He then turned back to the other beast warrior. 'Takuya, what are you doing? It's us!'

Another wave of fire was the response, only to be stopped by a combination of light and wind.

Sort of. The forest around them took a brunt of the attack too, as BlackTailmon evolved to strike out with her chains to stop the rampaging digimon and Gotsumon aimed more rocks.

'Where'd you guys come from?' Tomoki asked, before diving for a new cover as the old was blasted to bits. His voice suddenly hardened. 'Are you here for our spirits?'

'We're here to stop a rampaging digimon from destroying the market and digimon trapped inside,' the demon lady responded, using her Darkness spear to knock the bullets of fire away from herself and the already burning forest as Gotsumon took up vigil against the defenceless, throwing rocks every time the fire got too close. 'Honestly, it doesn't matter to us if you've got the spirits, so long as you're not going crazy and destroying everything.'

'Okay,' the Chosen of ice agreed, being the only one in the team naive enough to accept that truth. 'Hey, where's that boy you were with anyway?'

'Hopefully, helping with the evacuation.' She then fired a Darkness Wave at the torrent of fire suddenly coming at them, Vritramon not even deterred by the combination of attacks they were hitting him with, when they had the chance of course. Most of the time, they were busy dealing with the fire.

* * *

The last digimon that fit into Franken's compartments had actually gotten on board moments before, the ones trapped in the wreckage freed by their friends. Some of the stronger, larger digimon had stayed behind, all of them water elemental and intent of stopping the fire while Kouichi ran off to the fight.

Once he got there, he caught a glimpse of how strong the spirit was when bonded to the human. A beast warrior, two human warriors, an Ultimate Digimon and a rookie were going up against him, and while the former three were looking worse for wear, Vritramon had yet to even break out a sweat.

A quick sweep of the tail knocked the two grounded digimon to the ground, causing the three flying ones to establish a temporary truce and attack as one, bats of darkness electrified and sent along Fairymon's wind and attempting to push the fiery dragon down...only to run into another wall of fire and meet a stalemate.

'This isn't working,' Kouji growled, readying the wheels on his feet, before raising his voice. 'Takuya! Are you listening to me? We're your friends!'

'Yeah,' Junpei agreed. 'You know us.'

'Come on,' Izumi pleaded, only to be cut off by an echoing roar, before Vritramon unleashed another round from his Corona Blasters, and her plea died in her throat. 'That doesn't sound human at all. It's like Takuya isn't even in there.'

'There's no drive to focus the power from the beast spirit,' Kouichi explained, having come to stand by Tomoki and the three rookies. 'The more incentive to require the larger level of fire, the more control is prompted. He has nothing to protect, nothing to need to fight against, so the spirit's consciousness is almost entirely overwhelming.'

'Oh,' Junpei said, before turning to the warrior of light. 'And you?'

'Was running into trees while trying to take Gigasmon down,' Garrmon growled. 'Happy now?'

A surge of lightning blocked the blasts coming at them, before a laser retaliated, the two females bringing up the rear with physical attacks which were no more effective than anything else he had tried.

'I'll be happier when this fight is done,' the warrior of thunder answered, ducking another tail swipe as the wolf sped away on his heels.

Vritramon made to follow, the beast digimon the largest threat so far, but the Darkness Spear stabbing into his eyes changed his mind, and he switched his Flame Storm to LadyDevimon, who countered with another Darkness Wave.

'This is hopeless,' she scowled, before catching Kouichi's eye. 'Don't even think about evolving.'

'I'll give you five minutes,' he bit his lip in reply. 'I'm not standing here helpless a second longer.'

'You're a legendary warrior?' Tomoki asked, the others too occupied with the sudden storm that assaulted them to have caught the comment.

'Not really,' the other admitted. 'I do have a spirit, but its heavily corrupted and I can't control it.'

'Have you killed anyone with it?' the youngest member couldn't help but ask, causing the other to stare at him with shock and slight pity before the reply was given in the negative.

'Neither have I,' Tomoki said. 'Nor has Izumi-chan. The others always do it before us. The one time I had the chance to fight a battle on my own, I lost my spirit to Gigasmon. But even if I hadn't, I don't think I could be strong enough.'

Kouichi didn't say anything in reply, seeing as he was in two minds about that comment. 'Gigasmon is gone now,' he said instead. 'You don't have to worry about that.'

'Gone? You mean dead?'

'No. He's Gotsumon.'

'Oh?' Tomoki blinked at the digimon defending them, not really perturbed by the fact that he was having a civil conversation with someone that was kind of his enemy. Like the teddy bear on the floating island, he had an innate trusting nature to those that didn't look bully character. And the three sudden new editions certainly did not look the part. 'He looks fine.'

'Relatively,' the other agreed, before realising that the five fighting Vritramon had been knocked down and currently the dragon was looking at a new target. Them.

'Oh no,' he realised, before a barrage of fire with nothing to stop them fired.

Gotsumon readied himself to defend them, only to be stopped by Kouichi. 'No,' he protested. 'You can't take that. Stray blasts are one thing, a direct attack is another.'

'So what do we do?' the child digimon shot back, watching the other four legendary warriors and LadyDevimon claw to their feet.

'Move!' Following that, the boy managed to gently tackle the other human out of the way, the two rolling as the elder of the two managed to kick Neemon and Bokomon in the other direction. Gotsumon, getting the hint, dove in the same direction as the humans, and just in time, as fire rained upon the spot they once were, kicking dust into the air and shrouding them in its safety.

'You guys okay!' Junpei shouted, having finally gotten himself to the air.

'Yeah,' Tomoki called back, as Fairymon attempted to hit Vritramon with another Brezza Petalo. Then quieter to himself, 'I wish I could do something.'

'Me too,' Kouichi agreed, looking intently through the sand-screen at the five exhausted digimon that had once again thrown themselves at the uncontrollable dragon only to be beaten back.

'He's not attacking us again,' Gotsumon pointed out. 'Even if he can hear our voices.'

'I wonder...' the boy began, picking this up quicker than the younger on. 'Of course, Takuya always did rely too much on sight. Couldn't get anywhere near the donkey when he tried to pin the tail to it at Kasumi-san's birthday party.'

'You know Takuya?' Tomoki asked, causing the other's face to fall slightly.

'Knew,' Kouichi replied softly. 'Past tense.'

He looked back at the battle, at LadyDevimon trying to power up a Poison, but no opportunities for a strike were presenting itself. The five, even combined, weren't a match for the out of control flame warrior, who while only beginning to tire, was nowhere near exhausted as those fighting to knock some sense into him. The red eyes were flashing around, staring around before attacking.

'Stay here,' he said to Tomoki, standing up.

'Wait a sec, five minutes isn't up yet.'

Kouichi ignored him, slipping around the rocks and debris and grabbing a handful of dry dirt and flicking it into the other's face.

Vritramon roared, lunging blindly with the slight liability in his vision, and Kouichi cleanly dodged, remembering Piximon's training (ie. throwing pixie bombs at him before he could dodge them all with minimum effort) and weaving his way back to the others. Fairymon, having caught on, knocked her winds towards the sandier area and pushing the dust and smaller particles of debris into the air, right into Vritramon's line of sight.

He roared again, giving the others enough of a chance to strike with stronger attacks and knock him down. LadyDevimon, finally given enough of a chance, fired a Poison, the dark energy surrounding the dragon as it attempted to turn his power inside out.

Only they could all see it wouldn't be enough.

And Tomoki, still sheltered by Gotsumon, could no longer stand and watch as the dragon reared up on his rear legs, blinding leading a tsunami of fire and knocking the five digimon out of the air again.

'Takuya,' he cried, running forward though not with the experience which Kouichi had possessed. 'Please stop. I know you wouldn't be doing this if you remember we're your friends.'

Vritramon stopped, blindly reaching a claw towards the voice. Tomoki did nothing as the hand tightened around his body, hoisting him into the air even as his friends cried out in shock.

'Takuya, please,' he continued, not really knowing where the sudden courage he felt had come from, but knowing he could not stand on the sidelines when both friends he didn't even know were putting their lives on the line to stop the lost warrior before he did something he would always regret. 'This isn't you.'

The words flowed from there, the lessons he had managed to learn and hold on to throughout the time they had currently spent in the Digital World. Throughout that, the dragon listened, and deep within its heart, the human was starting to listen as well. Red eyes were slowly turning blue, but animal instinct wasn't something so easily drowned.

'Tomoki,' the remaining legendary warriors shouted as the grip suddenly tightened, and the teared boy cried out in pain, his work, though having accomplished more than he realised at the time, seemed not to have the immediate effect that they had hoped.

The beast was still the one in control, and he was far from soothed.

The grip tightened, and the warrior of ice found himself suddenly short on breath, until Kouji leapt up and managed to cut him loose, the group then following up with their strongest attacks with all the strength they had. LadyDevimon managed to unleash another Poison, supercharged with the other's attacks, this one powerful enough to finally take down the legendary beast warrior of flame. Binary code swirled, flying of as fragments of Vritramon disintegrated into data and crumbled into dust.

The defeated dragon let out another roar, though this one was full of anguish and pain, power sapped like the uncontrollable drug that had clouded his senses, before the image faded and the unconscious boy slumped to the ground, the beginning to tears forming between his eyelids.

The others dedigivolved and slumped to the ground...except LadyDevimon who devolved into a Salamon atop Kouichi's head.

'Exhausted,' she explained. 'But otherwise okay.'

The pair looked at the others, all slumped in various corners but all dragging themselves together.

'What now?' the Child asked, as Gotsumon made his way over. 'Stay with them or try and find the next spirit before someone else gets hurt?'

Kouichi looked at the group of five, all looking worse for wear then he could have ever imagined but still unified around the flame that prompted them on. 'We don't belong here,' he said finally. 'Not yet. We should go after the other spirit. Try and prevent this from happening again.'

'Yeah,' Salamon agreed, setting comfly into the other's hair as he turned to walk away, leaving a burnt out wreckage.

'I feel bad about leaving the market like this though,' he said, not moving even after having turned.

'Don't worry about it.'

The pair looked at the speaker, a Sabmarimon who had been using his exhaustible reservoir of water to quench the flames. 'We can handle that.'

'Are you sure?' Kouichi looked from the armour level to the other digimon standing around, already starting to pick up the pieces as those who could fly spread out to find Franken and the rest of the inhabitants.

'No,' the digimon admitted. 'We know this place will never return to its former glory; the land is too damaged. It will be difficult getting things to grow, but we'll manage for a time. After all, what we're doing is waiting in comfort for the inevitable.'

His eyes widened as the unspoken message was delivered.

'Not everyone agrees,' Sabmarimon said warningly. 'But we who hang around fortune tellers tend to be rather pessimistic about destiny. And the restarting of the digital world, whether for good or ill, has already been foreseen. We here do not believe in the ability to change faith.'

'I suppose there is no point in saying good luck then,' Kouichi smiled sadly.

'No,' the submarine agreed. 'But you don't need to sound so sad. Just try and make this passing as pain free as possible. That's all you can do.'

He nodded, before turning again and walking, Gotsumon choosing here his own path and heading south-west bound while the other two parted with a wave.

Behind them, the five warriors remained amidst the chaos one of their spirits had caused. With the task of overcoming the new hurdle now in front of them.

But most of all in front of their leader, now lost in the fog clouding the path he was just starting to realise may be the wrong one.


	8. Trodden Path

**Author's Notes**

Sorry for this chapter being shorter than normal, but I needed to end it there because otherwise, the next chapter would have broken off at an awkward point. A tad boring, but action picks up again next chapter and won't stop for awhile. So that'll be a fun write.

The eight traits are the seven crests from season 1, only I've used both the English and Japanese names for one of them. I couldn't use light, since light is already a spirit, so I had to improvise. It's just a requirement to be compatible for the spirit. For example, anyone with an ounce of courage can use the spirits of fire, while anyone capable of friendship can use ice. They just match better with those more capable, so they go better with humans as they are more capable of emotions beyond the primordial ones. Light and darkness are special cases, so they don't fit into the above category. There has to be a spiritual link between them, like the twins being, well...twins.

Up next: The Ancient Warrior: Takuya and co. Meet one of the ancient ten and get a chance to collect wisdom while Kouichi and BlackTailmon manage to catch a few lucky breaks. Of course, it doesn't last.

Enjoy.

* * *

**Butterflies' Flight**

AU. Like butterflies, they followed the flame, drawn to his light, despite that fact that following so blindly could potentially lead to corruption. And yet they shy away from the dark, the one thing that may save them yet...

Takuya K & Kouichi K

* * *

**Chapter 7 – Trodden Path**

'Takuya? Hey, Takuya! You okay?'

'Baka, let him rest.'

He let out an involuntary groan to the voices piecing through the comforting light haze that was drifting through his mind. Or was he the one drifting through it..?

_Oh well_, he thought to himself. _It doesn't really matter_...

It was far too comforting to leave, but the voices were rather persistent.

And the haze seemed rather weak. Almost as if he was losing a battle with himself...or winning one.

'Takuya?'

'I thought I told you to let him sleep.'

'Sleep? He's awake!'

'Oh...Takuya?'

He opened his eyes, to see the worried faces of Junpei and Izumi through the mist. And behind then, Tomoki, little Tomoki looking concerned with a brave face of fear buried beneath.

But why fear? What was the danger?

He sat up suddenly, before freezing at the burnt and crushed portion of the village, looking almost as if it had been...

_Fire, fire burning, exploding around him._

_ 'Why? What need was there to burn?'_

_ 'Because it is yours. Because you can. Because you can't-'_

'...control,' he whispered, looking at horror at the destruction he had wrought, the fragmented memories from within Vritramon exploding to the surface in rapid succession like a machine-fire gun. 'I couldn't control it, and I-'

'It's not your fault,' Izumi soothed. 'The beast spirits are just hard to control.'

Takuya ignored him, tears bubbling at the corner of brown, tethering, before falling down, down into a path which spiralled into nothing.

'What am I doing?' he sobbed, burying his face into his knees. 'Here, trying to save face...and look at what I've done?'

There was no amount of words they could say to disguise the truth, so they simply let the tears flow, standing a silent vigil above their friend, as well as the remaining two members who kept their distance.

Quietly, all four of them stood, till the waterworks following the flame ceased.

* * *

'Takuya-nii?' Tomoki asked tentatively, looking at his surrogate older brother who was himself gazing at his reflection in the water. 'Are you okay?'

'Okay?' the other repeated as though the word was foreign to him, before he shook his head. 'I should be asking you that. Thanks Tomoki.'

He didn't have to say for what; the younger understood, blushing slightly as he shuffled from foot to foot.

'It was nothing,' he said, red. 'But you're welcome.'

'It wasn't nothing,' Takuya snapped, before quickly catching himself. 'It was one of the bravest things I've ever seen.'

'It didn't really do that much thought,' the younger boy muttered awkwardly. 'I felt so useless without my spirit, and worried someone was going to get hurt with everyone attacking. So I tried the only thing I could.'

'It did more than you know,' the elder brunette said softly, staring at the water again. 'There's nothing worthwhile about having power if you can't help people with it.'

He remained stubbornly silent after that, and so Tomoki left him.

* * *

'Hey? Takuya?' That was Junpei, paused awkwardly in front of a conveniently placed tree trunk. 'Are you okay?'

'Did I hurt you guys?' he asked instead.

'Well...,' the warrior of thunder paused awkwardly, before answering. 'No...unless you count Kouji's ego.'

'Yeah, I'll say.' The brunette snorted a little. 'He doesn't have a razed village to show for his beast spirit, does he?'

It wasn't a question that required an answer, but the magician extraordinaire took a crack at it anyway. 'He had a rampaging Gigasmon and a few other rogues to direct himself towards. And he still crashed into trees and almost off a cliff. You had neither.'

Takuya simply stared at his reflection and said nothing. Soon enough, Junpei gave up as well.

* * *

'Third of the legendary warriors brigade checking in,' Izumi said cheerfully, coming over to their unofficial leader.

Takuya didn't say anything this time. There wasn't really anything left to say...except...

'Why?'

''cause we care silly.' The blonde smiled brightly, taking a seat beside him where she was certain he could see. 'We all make mistakes.'

'Not like that.'

'We could,' the pseudo-Italian pointed out rationally. 'It depends on the circumstance...and now that I think about it, attacking you at full force wasn't really the best thing to do. We're friends Takuya. Remember when Tomoki was under Bakumon's nightmare and you refused to fight him? We should have done the same; we would have, but-' Here, she paused awkwardly, before pressing on, though the rest of the words came out in a bit of a garble. 'Vritramon was big and scary and had already levelled quite a bit of the forest, so we didn't have much of a choice but to try and stop you.'

'That's okay Izumi,' the brunette responded softly. 'I was the one at fault.'

'You weren't,' the girl insisted. 'Kouji, Bokomon and that other boy...Kouichi I think, all explained that the beast spirits are practically impossible to control without the correct drive. It's a battle of wills one can't win unless they're fighting desperately enough for something.'

'Then I'm fighting for nothing,' the other muttered. 'Because I was a lost case from the start.'

He didn't say a word after that, and eventually, Izumi returned to the village to relend a hand.

* * *

'Hey, Bokomon?' Tomoki asked, coming over after having repaired the old market stalls to functionality.

'Yes my boy?' The white gnome acknowledged from his place, where he had been scrawling details into the Book.

'Did you see where that boy and those two digimon went? I haven't seen them around town. Actually, I don't remember seeing them at all after...well...'

'Hmm...' The child digimon scratched his head, before shaking his head. 'I'm afraid I haven't seen them since then either. They must have left.'

'Why though?' the eight year old wondered. 'They were welcome here.'

'Actually Tomoki,' the other pointed out. 'I don't think they were. Takuya for one doesn't like that boy...what's his name?'

'Kouichi?' the warrior of ice supplied.

'Yes. Kouichi. Takuya doesn't appear to like him that much.'

'He seems friendly enough, if a little on the shy and quiet side.' The small brunette thought for a moment. 'He said he knew Takuya. And something about pinning the tail on the donkey at someone's birthday party.'

'He did?' Bokomon looked up, surprised. 'Did they know each other in your world?'

Tomoki shrugged. 'I don't know. His expression looked funny when I asked too. He just replied that he _had_, but I don't know what he meant.'

There was a small silence as Bokomon noted down the new details.

'Hey Bokomon? He also said he has spirits, so he's a warrior like us, only they're corrupted he can't control them. Do you know anything about that?'

'Uncontrollable spirits?' the gnome repeated, before flipping pages in his book and stopping at something. 'It says here that the spirits save light and darkness represent eight different values or traits: courage for flame, love for wind, sincerity for water, reliability for earth, knowledge for steel, friendship for ice, faith for wood and hope for thunder. Light and darkness however represent the universe, and together they create an unstoppable force. For this reason, their connection with each other means that anyone who wields these two spirits must be spiritually connected to each other. It is believed that this force was what stopped Lucemon.'

'Okay,' Tomoki nodded. 'That's interesting and all, but how does that-?'

'I'm getting there,' the gnome interrupted, flipping the page. 'Apparently, the Ancient Warrior of Darkness, AncientSphinxmon, somehow tricked Lucemon and that led to his demise at the hands of the combination of light and darkness. As revenge, Lucemon, with the last of his power, eternally cursed the Ancient Spirits of Darkness, as well as any wielder who attempted to use these spirits, to be a force to great to be controlled and will head him to lay the path for Lucemon's utopia.' He grimaced here. 'Seems like, in spite, he's cursed the warrior of darkness to finish his dirty work for him. After the ancient warrior being the one to defeat him too.'

He paused there, looking at the next page showing a few sketches of a humanoid digimon with seven eyes. 'It is possible that that boy is the warrior of darkness if he said he can't control his spirits, or else he just has a beast spirit and is the same boat as you lot. I'd imagine the latter, if he didn't have Cherubimon's bodyguard with him.'

'Cherubimon's bodyguard?'

He flipped a few pages back, showing a picture of the demonoid lady who had come to their assistance during the fight with Vritramon. 'LadyDevimon. Pefect level fallen angel digimon; the ultimate fighting machine. She was said to once have been an Angewomon who gave up her place in heaven to protect her kind. In order to not dishonour her sacrifice, Ophanimon swore to never take one of her kind in servitude. And as Seraphimon and Ophanimon belong to the same family, LadyDevimon came to be Cherubimon's bodyguard.'

'It might not be the same one,' Tomoki said. 'She did turn into a cat.'

'I'm afraid it is. She is said to have regressed into a BlackTailmon after the safety of the heavens was paramount, and simply evolves when her charge is in need of protection. If she uses up too much energy, she further regresses into Salamon, which is the puppy-like digimon that was sitting on that boy's head.'

'So...what does that tell us?'

'I can't be sure,' Bokomon admitted. 'But I think that boy, Kouichi, may be the warrior of darkness. Another thing I don't understand though is how the beast spirit of flame was destroyed so easily. They're supposed to be impermeable, except –' He broke off, looking at the blank page that followed. 'That's odd. It doesn't tell us the exception.'

'That's helpful,' Junpei grumbled, having come up somewhere in the story.

Tomoki looked at him. 'Any luck?'

'No,' the elder sighed. 'And Izumi didn't have any either.'

Kouji, or Garrmon to be exact, growled from where he was digging up foundations.

'Hey?' the warrior of thunder exclaimed, affronted. 'It's not like you've tried.'

'That idiot's just too thick-headed,' the warrior of light responded with something akin to frustration. Code swirled around him, and then Kouji, the human, was scrambling gracefully up from the pile of rocks he had been digging through, before stalking off in Takuya's direction.

'Don't pick a fight with him _now_,' Izumi called after him...not that he listened.

* * *

'Takuya.'

The addressed turned fully, partly because it was Kouji, and he was difficult enough to ignore as it was, and partly because he sounded so annoyed.

'Wha-?' he began, only to be knocked back with a punch. 'Hey, what's the deal?'

'You are,' the other responded flatly, pulling his D-scanner out. 'Come on. Evolve.'

_Evolve..?_

'What?' he spluttered. 'Why?'

'Because,' was the plain reply given, before code swirled again. 'Execute, Spirit Evolution. Wolfmon.'

The wolverine gave him a flat look, and the other still hesitated. His hand had almost snuck into his pocket before he pulled it out.

Vritramon was gone. Destroyed. But could he be trusted with even Agunimon?

But Kouji, glaring at him, extending a laser from one tightly clenched arm, didn't appear to be giving him much choice.

_Still..._

The laser fired, and the brunette jumped in shock, the blast hitting the ground he had just been standing. Looking back at the warrior before him, the hardened brown eyes glared.

He was serious. Whatever Kouji was doing, he meant it.

Lasers shot out again, only this time from his eyes, striking the water behind him...and him, if he hadn't jumped out of the way again.

'What are you doing?'

'Evolve and fight.'

Takuya scowled. He didn't want to, but it looked like Kouji was leaving him no choice.

After all, he couldn't dodge lasers from a psycho laser warrior forever.

'Execute, Spirit Evolution. Agunimon.'

* * *

'What are those boys doing?' Izumi complained, running to the telltale lights and flashes that showed Wolfmon and Agunimon locked in battle.

'Fighting,' Neemon innocently answered, only to be snapped on the waistband by Bokomon.

'Any imbecile can tell that,' the white gnome rolled his eyes. 'I would like to know why though.'

'So would the rest of us,' Tomoki agreed, lagging behind with the two digimon while the two elder children went in the front.

Until they stopped, and the three behind crashed to a halt, before the five ducked to avoid the firestorm.

'Well, 'kuya seems better,' Junpei pointed out weakly.

And in all honestly, that was all that could be said between the laser blasts and fire darts raining.

* * *

'Well,' Kouji panted, once a particularly strong blast left them both devolved and doubled over. 'Better?'

'Yeah, actually.' Takuya still looked confused, but better off than before. 'But seriously, what was that about?'

'Making sure you were still in there.'

'You know. You could be nicer.'

Kouji shrugged, before letting a small grin form on his face as the other mirrored his look. 'Nice blasting.'

'Nice yourself,' the other shot back.

The long haired boy simply rolled his eyes. 'Ever taken martial arts before? What matters is the force behind the attack, not the attack itself. The drive, the will powering the flame. Lose control, lose your way, it burns everything. Have a focus, it lights the way.'

'Yeah, but...'

'Listen!' Kouji snapped. 'This is the only time I'm getting soft, so listen up. What were you fighting for?'

'To save the Digital World and to become stronger.'

'So? What happened? What's changed?'

'I had too much power obviously.'

'Again. So?'

'So I lost control!' He all but shouted the last part, but Kouji pressed on.

'And yet you could still fight me fine,' he pointed out. 'Even with both of us holding back. So you couldn't control your beast spirit. The next time you meet that power, you'll remember. Experience will lead you through that fight if nothing else. And you may not Vritramon now, but you still have Agunimon. And you still have a world to save.'

'Wow Kouji,' Izumi complimented. 'So you do have a soft side.'

'Shut up.'

Takuya ignored the mini-exchange. 'You're right,' he admitted instead. 'You're all right.'

'So you're done feeling sorry for yourself.'

'Yeah. After all, we've still got this place to save.'

'Great,' Kouji muttered, taking his bandana off and raking his hands through his hair. 'Start by fixing that temple. The rest of us can't figure it out. And if you ever pull a stunt like this again, I'm sending you home in a body-bag, got it?'

His glare was so intense that the other took that threat to heart.

And so began the road to a new arc.

'Hey?' he asked suddenly. 'What happened to that other kid?'

'Kouichi you mean?' Tomoki asked. 'We think he left awhile ago.'

'Oh.'

'What's between you and him anyway?'

Takuya paused at that, thinking back at their previous encounters, and suddenly realised that the face and name was even vaguely familiar from before the Digital World and their first meeting in the TV forest.

'I don't know Tomoki,' he admitted. 'I think now I knew him from our world, but I can't remember. I didn't even recognise him the first two times, and I wasn't the most friendly person either. It's just something about him; my head says he's trouble, but my heart says he's a friend.'

'Can your head and heart say two different things?' Neemon asked blankly. 'Is that even possible?'

Another snap of the waistband answered his question.

'I owe alot of people an apology,' he realised, casting his memories further back than he held them. 'You guys, him, Shinya, my parents...'

Izumi smiled at him, and the others followed suit. 'We forgive you. And as for the others, I'm sure they will too, in time.'

Takuya couldn't help but smile back, feeling far lighter than his first steps into this new world. 'Yeah...'

Above them, the leaves stirred slightly in contentment.

Deep below, something twisted in anger as their prize began to slip away.


	9. The Ancient Warrior

**Author's Notes**

In this AU, AncientGarurumon is dead, and Lucemon cursed AncientSphinxmon before killing him, but the other eight are still alive. For the most part, to each their own. They don't physically impact much upon the Digital World. The spirits however reflect their choices; ie. easily destructible because they accept the digital world's destruction and rebirth. Hard to control because of the lessons they are trying to teach their chosen and the other chosen's too, ie. Takuya's beast spirit problems teaching Tomoki a lesson as well, etc.

When the spirits are destructible and not possessing anything, you just need to shatter it. Like hitting and breaking the force fields, just need to hammer at the weakest until it snaps.

Duskmon's power is attributed to several things. Being corrupted thanks to Lucemon and being basically the destruction programme, he has to be more powerful than any digimon (almost any, that's really the beast spirit's job), AncientSphinxmon is dead so the ancient warrior has no life force of its own, and a third factor which will come more into light in the next chapter, so I'm not spoiling the surprise.

The last paragraph is inspired by Envy and Lust in Fullmetal Alchemist (the first series). That discussion, and most specifically the quote 'Death is the high cost of living.'

Up next: What Lies Beneath: Alone and caught between two nightmares, it's time for a certain dark warrior to prove a world's prejudice wrong. But even then, there are lines he can't cross.

Enjoy.

* * *

**Butterflies' Flight**

AU. Like butterflies, they followed the flame, drawn to his light, despite that fact that following so blindly could potentially lead to corruption. And yet they shy away from the dark, the one thing that may save them yet...

Takuya K & Kouichi K

* * *

**Chapter 8 – The Ancient Warrior**

Salamon yawned, before sniffing the salty breeze. 'Nice day for sailing,' she commented, before lying back on Whamon. 'You like this job?'

The whale splashed a little at a few Gomamon swimming by, before replying. 'It's nice and relaxing,' he said. 'And it gets me enough bytes for my needs. Save fish of course; they come free.'

The two riders laughed at that. 'I can't see a lack of abundance of fish in this clean an ocean,' Kouichi commented. 'This place is beautiful.'

'You should take the scenic route kid,' the Whamon chuckled. 'I've been there hundreds of times and have never gotten bored of it.'

'Sounds amazing.'

'It is.' As an afterthought, he added. 'You know, speaking of fish, I had a very funny one the other day. Only once I had swallowed it, I realised it was yellow...and looked vaguely like a tank.'

The human almost fell of his back at those words.

'A spirit?' he gasped, sitting back up while the Child digimon chuckled, before the two exchanged glances. The puppy made a little jerking movement with her head, leading the boy to pull out his D-scanner and activate it's compass.

An orange flicking light was visible along with his black one, before suddenly vanishing, causing Salamon to howl in laughter.

'It probably just got digested,' she giggled. 'One less for us. That was easy.'

'A little too easy.'

'Hey, don't complain. See any more?'

He looked, widening the range.

'Yeah actually. Two: blue and pink. I suppose they're the beast spirits of water and wind. They're between two small islands.'

'Ah yes,' the Whamon recognised. 'I know those. We'll be there in a few hours.'

'All right then.' Salamon lay back down on her back. 'We'll just enjoy the fresh air then.'

* * *

'So, what now Bokomon?' Kouji growled, slightly annoyed that their little group was standing on the shore of a large ocean with no way across. 'Stand here and wait for the ocean to dry up?'

'Actually,' the white gnome responded, a little affronted. 'We're waiting for a ride. Whamons ride the ocean and carry passengers, much like the Trailmon on the surface of the land.'

'Ooh,' Izumi trilled happily. 'Sounds like fun.'

The warrior of light still appeared to be sceptical. 'Most of those Trailmon's wont let passengers on without tickets. Are these Whamon free or do we need tickets as well?'

'We need tickets,' Bokomon said, digging into his belt. 'They're-'

He stopped, suddenly realising he was broke. 'We appear to not have any money.'

'So...'

'So, we're stuck.'

All five children groaned.

'Don't kill him Kouji,' Tomoki begged.

'It's tempting,' the other replied. Luckily, he didn't mean it.

'You don't mean it, do you?' That was Takuya, chuckling at his best friend.

'...no.'

The five stood in silence for a few minuted, before Kouji groaned in annoyance again.

'Are we planning on moving from this spot?'

'We would if we knew how,' Junpei shot back, a little annoyed at the other's impatience. 'But you for one can't fly and I'm not carrying you.'

The blonde laughed.

'Why fly,' she grinned. 'Lets just build a raft and sail.'

Amongst the odd stares she received, she just blinked.

'What?' Then she smirked. 'You _do_ know how to build a raft, right?'

'Of course we do,' Takuya and Kouji snapped together, moving as one to the forest behind them.

The only female in the group just laughed.

* * *

Soon enough, their group of eight was sailing on their makeshaft raft, sails 'borrowed' from a conveniently placed and abandoned shack. Weather was about as sunny as it came, the light breeze ruffling the human hair while Izumi stretched comfortably.

'Nice weather,' she voiced cheerfully. 'Mmm, I love this breeze.'

'You know 'zumi,' Junpei commented. 'I'm surprised you love sailing so much, seeing as you've got the spirit of wind.'

'So what?' the blonde laughed. 'I can't like water too. Besides, the air is much fresher here. And it's a beautiful day.'

The ocean picked that moment to rebuke her, water suddenly turning choppy and causing everyone to dive for something to hold on to as the suddenly large waves threatened to overturned them.

'Nice weather huh?' Takuya hollered over the sudden storm that had descended upon them.

'Well, it was!' the other shot back.

If anyone else had any comments to that, they were cut off as another wave, large and strong, descended upon them.

'Tidal wave!' Tomoki screamed, attempting to backpaddle, before being wisely pulled back by Junpei.

'You can't run on water!' he shouted to the youngest. 'Just what did you think you were doing?'

'Er, well-'

He wasn't given a chance to explain his irrationality before they were drowning in water.

'All right, don't panic!' Takuya shouted from under the water, remembering his other near drowning experience. 'We can't drown in this world!'

The warrior of wind gaped at their goggle-headed leader yelling under water...and being heard. So much so in fact that she let in a mouthful of water against her more rational judgement, thus proving the warrior of fire right.

'Hey,' she exclaimed. 'We can breathe. And talk.'

That was enough proof for the other three, who released the breaths they held.

'Well, of course you all can,' Bokomon growled from somewhere around them. In the darkness, they could do little but hear each other. 'This world is made entirely of data.'

'You _could_ have told us that before,' the four who hadn't had that prior knowledge groaned. 'It might have saved us the panicking.'

There was a laugh amongst them, this one no voice they actually recognised. 'My apologies,' the female tone laughed. 'I forget you humans are not used to our ways.'

The five suddenly froze, aware of how vulnerable they were in the dark.

'Fear not, inheritors of the legendary spirits. For you are all children of my brethren, and I do not harm my own.'

'It would help it we could see you,' Kouji growled, for one not too keen on following blindly. 'You expect us to trust you when we don't even know who you are?'

'As discourteous and distrusting as your father,' the female trilled. 'But as you insist, AncientGarurumon's child.'

A soft, lukewarm yellow, glow suddenly emitted, from a staff held by a mermaid like creature.

'Bellissimo ,' Izumi breathed.

The boys just stared, open-mouthed, at the mermaid, who smirked at them.

'I am AncientMermaimon,' she explained. 'The ancient warrior of water, and I have invited you to my realm here in the Net Oceans to guide you.'

'Guide?' Bokomon asked. 'I thought your domain only stretched across water. No disrespect,' he added hastily, as the ancient digimon raised an eyebrow.

'Any form of water,' she reminded. 'Ice included. The beast spirits of water and wind rest upon my domain, but they will soon be destroyed. The beast spirit of darkness can only be taken by AncientSphinxmon's child, so I would strongly recommend you do not go after that. The beast spirit of ice is however in the ice continent, on a glacier not too far from the border of the Forest Kingdom.'

She sighed a little, looking up as if considering something, before focusing her gaze on the warrior of water. 'Normally, that is all I would tell you, for you are not my chosen, nor are you AncientSphinxmon's.'

'AncientSphinxmon?' the white gnome asked. 'The ancient warrior of darkness.'

The lady of water nodded. 'That is correct.'

'But why is he special?' Neemon asked stupidly, triggering another waistband snap as Bokomon immediately tried to cover up, hoping not to incite the anger of the ancient warrior of water.

Luckily, AncientMermaimon simply looked sad. 'I owe him a great debt,' she replied. 'And he cannot watch over his own chosen, so I do so for him. But that is not what I wish to say.'

'Um...what is it then?' Tomoki blinked.

AncientMermaimon simply closed her eyes. 'Tomoki was it? Child of Ice?'

'Yes?'

'Hmm...good choice for an overgrown mammoth.'

Bokomon coughed as the lady smiled discreetly.

'I mean no disrespect,' she assured. 'We may be ancient, but we are young and volatile as all other digimon and humans. And our relationships are the same.' She turned her gaze to Takuya, who found himself involuntarily cringing under her stare, before she rolled her eyes. 'As hot-headed as AncientGreymon,' she sighed. 'See that you learn which is your heart and which is someone else's desire.'

'Huh?'

She ignored the confusion, simply turning to Izumi. 'And you must be AncientIrismon's child, correct?'

'Si,' she replied, automatically switching to Italian.

AncientMermaimon, contrary to expectations, settled into a fit of giggles. 'I guess I've lost that bet.'

'Bet?' Tomoki blinked, curious about any sort of game.

'Oh, AncientGreymon, being the typical hothead he is, decided to put a bet regarding AncientIrismon and I: who gets the prettier out of our first choices at Chosen. AncientIrismon picks and gets you, and me, I don't even get my first choice thanks to Cherubimon interfering. Wish I had though, decent kid's going to go through hell. It's insulting to call a boy 'pretty' though.'

It was surprising, seeing one of the Warrior Ten, legend in the digital world, talking like a normal teenager of all things.

Leaving Izumi blushing at the praise, she turned to Junpei. 'Thunder huh? You're getting there.'

'Getting where?' Junpei asked, but she just smiled cryptically and turned to the last of the humans.

'And you must be light,' she stated, fixating him with something akin to a glare. 'I admit, AncientGarurumon and I didn't always see eye to eye, but he certainly picked the needle from the haystack...with some help. Not that he would admit it though.' She shook her head slowly. 'Funnily enough, it wasn't pride. You understand, don't you?'

Kouji glared a little, before nodding.

'Good.' She nodded. 'Then understand this.'

* * *

'Here we are,' Whamon whistled. 'Two small island and a torrent of whirlpools in-never mind.'

He cut off his previous statement, seeing as the whirlpools suddenly sank back into the ocean, revealing their cause as Kouichi's D-scanner began to flash urgently. The two spirits, one near each island, and between them, the barrier of air and water that separated them.

'Good,' the human sighed in relief. 'No-one got them. But...how do we destroy them then?'

Salamon grinned. 'We beat them up good of course.'

She sat up, straightening herself on Whamon's back, before shouting out.

'Salamon, evolve. BlackTailmon.'

Data swirled, extending her form, turning the small puppy into a larger cat, before the dome broke, revealing the wanderer of the night, before she flexed her sharp claws and readied herself for a pounce.

'I call dibs on water,' she smirked. 'You take wind.'

'Any reason why?' Kouichi blinked. 'Apart from water being a yin element and wind a yang?'

'You tell me,' the cat grinned. 'Cat's _hate_ getting wet.'

'You're the cat, not me.'

'Sorry dear, but you're the lion here. I'm just your regular feline.'

Kouichi frowned slightly, before hurriedly masking it. 'That's for the purified spirits. I'm no warrior of darkness.'

The feline hissed lightly. 'If you weren't,' she rebuked. 'You'd have long lost your mind by now. Don't think I'm blind.'

Before the other could register that statement, she had immediately lauched herself upon the squid-like figurine, clawing at it. Kouichi had no choice but to dive into the water and swim for the other one, skimming the surface lightly, and low enough for him to be able to kick and punch while keeping his head above the water.

It didn't take long for the two to break through them, while Whamon simply wondered why he hadn't simply used his own attack.

'I wouldn't put it past the water one to possess you,' BlackTailmon pointed out. 'You are a marine animal after all. On the bright side though, only two left.'

* * *

'It's partly your fault I lost my Chosen,' the Ancient Warrior of Water said seriously to Kouji. 'But mostly fate. Light and darkness rests at a rather fickle balance, and neither one of you are at that balance yet. It was foretold that darkness leads to the destruction of a world spiralling into chaos and the light rebuilds, but it was also told that a light will lead darkness across this path, and it is darkness that beacons light to fulfil its destiny thereafter. Light and darkness are forever intertwined. One can even go so far as to claim them one and the same. Two sides of a mirror. Two twins. Remember this, for in time you will understand, and despite what you will think, it won't be too late so long as you remember and act accordingly.'

She turned her blue eyes to all the humans now, somehow encompassing all five in her gaze. 'For all of you, follow where your heart tells, but do not give way from the right path for what appears to be mercy. Only insects follow blindly; you all have more intelligence than that. You may stray from time to time, but every step off a path brings you closer, save you don't stray too far.'

Her eyes bored into Takuya's brown ones, before the light vanished and they were flailing in water again.

* * *

Whamon was a very peaceful whale digimon, giving tours and the likes to earn his keep and travel around the water continent. As a sea courier, he didn't see much trouble, nor many shocks, which is why he let out a gust of water and flapped his fins so hard his riders fell off when five humans and two digimon suddenly appeared in front of him, flailing about the water.

BlackTailmon hissed, leaping atop Kouichi's head and almost sending the poor boy under the water again before he gained his balance. Even if he couldn't drown, he didn't find it all that appealing to have that deathtrap around him...even if he loved water in any other circumstance.

'Where did ya'll come from?' she asked curiously, pouncing back onto Whamon while he lowered himself deep enough to pick up the others.

'AncientMermaimon,' Tomoki piped up, seeing as everyone else were too busy getting their heads on straight.

'The Ancient Warrior of Water?' Kouichi gaped. 'She-oh no.'

He suddenly broke off, looking up.

'What is it?' his guardian asked, before looking up herself. 'Oh.'

'What's up?' Whamon asked, before those remaining looked up.

To find the sky being ripped apart. Literally.

'BlackTailmon,' the warrior of darkness said slowly. 'An explanation?'

'Sorry,' she said. 'Don't have one. Except that's the Wind Continent. The wandering land. I don't see why-Oh, I get it.'

'Get what?'

'You know how the gate opens at every half moon,' she explained. 'Wind and water should never be atop one another when that happens. Something about atmospheres clashing.'

'So what happens?'

The sky flashed, as though lightning was striking, before wings could be seen. In fact, that was all that could be seen, reaching across 30 metres at best.

'Who is that?' Izumi said in part awe, part fear.

'Valdurmon,' BlackTailmon replied. 'Protector of the skies. In the crossing of the gate, we on water are technically trespassers. And bodyguards tend not to listen to reason. I'm speaking from experience here,' she added, seeing Bokomon's raised eyebrow.

'So...' Takuya said cautiously. 'Do we fight or run?'

Kouji didn't even bother to hide his surprise. 'Did you just _consider_ running away?'

'Yeah, so what? We'll have a time beating that, and if she's just a protector, should we even be fighting?'

'She won't let us get away,' Bokomon said, looking up from his book. 'No bird ever lets their prey go. I'm afraid we'll have to fight.'

They all exchanged glances, before Takuya turned to Kouichi.

'Look,' he said, slightly uncomfortable. 'I still don't know what you're talking about, and I don't exactly trust people who came out of the blue saying they know me, but I shouldn't have snapped at you for that. So...truce?'

Kouichi considered, before allowing a small smile to grace his face and accepting the hand offered to him. 'Truce.'

The leader then looked at the feline. 'Can you help us?' he asked.

'_You're_ asking for help?' she asked, before smirking. 'Sure.'

With that, the five who could (and were allowed) called upon their data, letting it enveloping them.

'Execute, spirit evolution. Agunimon.'

'Execute, spirit evolution. Kazemon.'

'Execute, spirit evolution. Blitzmon.'

'Execute, beast spirit evolution. Garrmon.'

'BlackTailmon, spirit evolve. LadyDevimon.'

The six immediately launched an attack, the two grounded digimon using Whamon and the two islands as landing platforms.

But their combinations did nothing to faze the other, as a swan like body appeared amongst the wings as her sharp brown eyes focused on the five vulnerable ones, before whipping around to look at the five attacking.

And she quickly decided to take care of those first, despite the fact that they were about as annoying as mosquitoes.

But territory was territory, and trespassers were trespassers. The wind was a sanctuary when all else failed, so its protection was of utmost importance.

Mindless importance.

'Aurora Undulation.' The voice, sweet yet strong like the wind, echoed across the water, drawing light in what appeared to be its purest point, before being blasted, separating and launching at its targets, travelling faster than they could perceive. Three hundred million metres per second to be precise. The speed of light.

Before the four warriors and one body guard knew what hit them, they were lying devolved (in the bodyguard's case, as Nyaramon) on one of the two islands. The power hadn't been strong enough to kill them. That was light's mercy...or its curse.

And Valduramon turned its gaze to those still standing, before unleashing another attack. After all, the others could no longer move. They could.

'Oh dear.' The white gnome shook. 'We're dead.

'What if we ran?' Tomoki asked. 'She can't follow us forever.'

'We'd never make it.' Unlike the others, Kouichi wasn't panicking. His mind was painfully clear; it was his heart shying away as he pulled his D-scanner from his pocket again. 'We have to fight.'

'With what?' the other human cried. 'Four spirits and a perfect level were no match for that. This is insane.'

'This whole story is insane,' Kouichi said, slightly bitterly, calling forth his data and letting it envelop him, while the others crawled to their knees. 'I just hope BlackTailmon and Cherubimon-sama are right. And wrong.'

And before anyone could sort out that seemingly paradoxical statement, the tides had turned.

'Execute, spirit evolution. Duskmon.'

The spectators couldn't help but wonder at the sight that greeted them...save Nyaramon, who was desperately wishing the boy could keep such a corrupted spirit under his control. It was, after all, more than a battle of wills and hearts. It was a battle against destiny too.

Duskmon simply floated in the sky. That was all that could really describe his movement. His body was almost skeletal like, seven eyes, all sternly focused on a single target while claw-like hands descended into two jagged blades. The aura was strange, almost as though two very different forces were battling against each other, but if they were, the fruits of their labour was essentially a stalemate.

Which was...good, all things considered. Considering one of the alternatives was a levelled world.

'Um...what is that?' Neemon asked blankly, the only one not struck dumb.

'Are you insane?' Bokomon hissed. 'That's the warrior of darkness. One slip up and he'll destroy us all.'

On the islands, Nyaramon pulled her tail around her before digging it into the soil, dragging out data and using it to revamp her strength. Kouichi seemed to be holding up fine...for now. But it was unlikely it could last very long.

He had never dealt with the likes of such a thing before. It was simply too much to expect.

Luckily, Valduramon was too preoccupied with the new recruit to pay any attention to the evolutions taking place behind her back.

'Aurora Undulation,' she hissed again, focusing the entire beam upon her new adversary.

Duskmon simply stared back as the light hit...

...and had no effect.

'What?' Takuya gaped from the spot he was kneeling in. 'Did that seriously happen?'

'I was going to ask the same thing myself,' Izumi moaned from somewhere beside him. 'Is he really a legendary warrior?'

'Maybe we missed something in Bokomon's explanation,' Junpei suggested, somewhere to his left.

'Maybe.' He hadn't actually gotten the explanation at all, so he wasn't entirely sure what was going on. 'I missed the whole thing.'

'Shush,' the female hissed suddenly. 'He's doing something.'

And he was, slowly revolving all eyes so they focused at the swan's centre, before the light suddenly vanished.

Completely.

'Eroberung storm.'

The voice, male yet otherwise barely human, echoed in the blackness, before all those present cried out as something whipped around them. There was a snarl somewhere close, before two cries of pain, one definitely human, the other opposite, before light exploded with enough force to rip darkness asunder.

Any darkness, save this curse of a Demon lord and the child it held.

Valduramon squawked again, before her form exploded, feathers flying as blue data swirled before all their eyes, making them dizzy in pain and shock...and at times looking remarkably like blood, almost as if it had been a chicken for slaughter.

And it might as well have been, as despite the boy's intentions, the warrior simply stood still, two wills still struggling to hold one another.

And LadyDevimon took that opportunity to strike, playing on the slow reflexes thanks to Kouichi's visible struggle against his cursed spirit.

The poison wrapped around the dark warrior, twisting and grabbing at all the power it could reach, more than he had ever used, holding back as he had been.

That alone told the bodyguard of Cherubimon how lucky they all were...and how strong the other.

But as the boy fell, screaming as his power was ripped apart but unable to be freed as darkness' curse dragged him to the last, undiluted power set free lashed out at the ocean in its way.

When the flashes of light and darkness finally stopped, the five humans, Tomoki still on Whamon, found the water steaming and evaporating in the human air.

What remained at least. The rest was a dry wasteland. Even the islands were bone dry...save them.

All they could do then was shake in terror.

And by the time they collected their wits about them, they noticed that both warrior and protector had disappeared.

* * *

Setting her charge down, LadyDevimon simply collapsed from exhaustion, regressing immediately into her Adult stage but fighting against another dedigivolution, slipping her gloves off and soaking them in a nearby stream before using them as a compress.

Thankfully, she noted, only the ocean itself had taken any damage. Some of that energy had rebounded during the poison, drawn by the spirit of darkness, hell bent on survival too she notice bitterly, into the body in order to stabilize him.

Luckily too. With the power the spirit had, it was a miracle someone, anyone, could make it through a digivolution intact.

It was simply too large a risk to allow to happen.

But she, _they_, were lucky, that death hadn't been the price to stave destruction.

'Death seems too large a price to pay for a small lapse of control which irrevocably results in corruption. Especially in cases where fault lies elsewhere.'

She looked to the moons, winking at her from the sky above. 'Life is never fair, is it? And death...' She looked at the unconscious boy, for now free, but later...who knew. Certainly not her, but he was too kind and gentle despite the enigma he was, to stand against himself. 'Death is never fair either, is it?'

No-one answered. Because there was nothing to say. Truth was the truth, no matter who said it.


	10. What Lies Beneath

**Author's Notes**

Song translations are at the end. They're all from frontier.

It reads a bit funny, but that's because Kouichi's basically on a rollercoaster of a nightmare. Scenes change. You keep running, but you don't necessarily get anywhere. Rules are different. And reality and illusion tend to cross.

SkullBaluchimon is a digimon I found on Wikimon. Really neat pic too. It has the power to imprison an opponent in space (ie. a separate dimension) and chase them with terror or death, but once the walls begin to disintegrate as the opponent releases themselves from the nightmare, it begins to merge with reality. And as the beast spirit of darkness is cursed by Lucemon, the only one who can actually get their hands on it is Kouichi. In that sense, the human spirit of darkness is at least a little manageable by Cherubimon, seeing as he looked after it before Kouichi bonded with it. Beast spirit, like 10 times more powerful...no dice.

The last set of italics is actually from Chapter 1: Darkness and Flame. Though that was so long ago you might have forgotten...or not. Depending on when you read that.

**Up next:** Scared of the Dark: A blast from the past turns the tables permanently as the legendary warriors realise too late they've crossed an unforgivable line. After all, friends are friends, no matter how you defined them...but this mistake could cost them their lives.

Halfway now. Enjoy.

* * *

**Butterflies' Flight**

AU. Like butterflies, they followed the flame, drawn to his light, despite that fact that following so blindly could potentially lead to corruption. And yet they shy away from the dark, the one thing that may save them yet...

Takuya K & Kouichi K

* * *

**Chapter 9 – What Lies Beneath**

He found himself standing in darkness again. He always had when his eyes closed, when he was younger. He'd drift in the never-ending void, crying for a light, but more importantly, for someone else to simply be there. Because it wasn't the darkness so much he feared; it was the loneliness it brought.

When he was a mere toddler, he'd crawl into his mother's bed and sleep there, safe in the haven of her embrace. But she worked long and hard, and there were times she wasn't home...but then his grandmother would take him in her lap and sing him to a resting slumber. And if he'd wake from another nightmare, there would always be that maternal warmth enveloping him to hide his unseen demons.

'You remember, right?'

Of course he remembered...

_Strong hands lifted him up from where he had been clutching the casual yutaka._

_ 'What is it Kouichi-chan?' his grandmother's voice cooed in his ears as the old woman lifted her grandchild into her lap. 'You want obaa-chan to sing you a song?'_

_The four year old nodded into her dress as she gently rocked him, humming gently into his ear before the melodies melded into words as child and adult drifted amongst them._

_ 'Kaze o ukete tatsu kewashii gake de wa_

_Jibun no yowasa bakari ga mieru ne_

_Demo donna pinchi mo haruka e toberu_

_Chansu ni mo kawaru Kiseki kakushi motteru...'_

'You remember, don't you? Being that small weak child that always needed comforting...'

'_Densetsu ni wa musuu no hiiroo_

_Esoragoto to itterarenai...'_

_ '_Always holding onto that dream...'

'_Yuusha ni ima, iki o fuki kome Wakatte iru sa_

_Ichiban daiji na buki wa kokoro ni aru nda_

_Makerarenai Tsuyoku aritai_

_Kizu darake demo akogareteta mirai e to_

_Tabidate With the will...'_

'Always believing...'

'_Niji o oikaketa tooi kioku no_

_Mujaki sa Doko de nakushita no darou_

_Shitteru koto ga fueteku sono tabi_

_Akirameru koto o mi ni tsuketakunai ne_

_Towa ni tsuzuku jibun no sutoorii_

_Unmei ni mo sakaratte yaru...'_

'Letting go of the truth in such illusions...'

'_Toushi ni ima, akari o tomose Wakatte iru sa_

_Ichiban tegowai aite wa kokoro ni iru nda_

_Furimukanai Nigetari shinai_

_Tochuu no mama de me o sorashiteta yume e to_

_Tobi kome With the will_

_Yuusha ni ima, iki o fuki kome Wakatte iru sa_

_Ichiban daiji na buki wa kokoro ni aru nda_

_Makerarenai Tsuyoku aritai_

_Kizu darake demo akogareteta mirai e to_

_Tabidate With the will...'_

_Her voice trailed off, looking at the sleepy toddler in her lap, curling into her as he held on. 'Better?' she asked kindly, still rocking and beckoning a slumber to take him. But whatever nightmare had taken him must have been worse than most, as the boy simply curled tighter and whimpered in reply._

_ 'Can you sing another song Obaa-chan?' he asked._

_And the woman obliged._

_ 'Donna ni hanarete itemo..._

_Hey!_

_Miageta sora Kimi wa tooi basho de_

_Onaji keshiki Mitsumete iru no ka na_

_Todokanai omoi o_

_Mune ni kizamitsuke hashitteta nda_

_Bokutachi ga yumemita ashita ni_

_Hibiku yo Kimi no warai goe_

_Dakara bokutachi ga atarashii kaze o_

_Okosou Mujaki na mama de...'_

_And somewhere within the innocent painted image, he fell asleep._

But as he grew older, whether it was because of his pride or the burden it put on others, he longer stretched out towards others for comfort, instead offering it where he could and closing his eyes to his own darkness, locking it away so it didn't interfere with his life.

'You chased after your pretty painting of the world, hiding your nightmares away...but what did that bring you but more nightmares?'

Being older...being alone...

_Blue eyes opened almost in an almost startled manner, but will alone forced them to ease. The moonlight still danced across his face; he had a habit, much to his mother's chagrin (as it wasn't exactly safe), of leaving the curtains drawn back at night, to coax the darkness back into the corners of the earth where light could not reach them. And between that and the comfort of knowing his mother was simply a wall or phone call away, he'd burrow back into his pillow and blankets and close his eyes again, gently humming to himself as he conjured dreams of fresh grass and blue skies to replace the lonely and bitter road that remained on a horizon he purposely kept covered in fog._

_And he'd sleep. And wake again. And forget. And nightmares became night terrors all, eventually even him, became oblivious to._

'But you'd still subconsciously remember, especially when you were alone. Your mother worked too long, your grandmother steadily grew older and sicker...and you didn't have any close friends, did you? None that would stay by your side.'

His feet were running, looking for something, someone, searching...

'And even when you thought you had friends, when they had promised that friendship would last forever...what do they do but forget about you? And you still chase them...'

_ 'Look, I'll promise I'll ring and visit and everything, 'kay? It'll be like I'm right here. I swear.'_

_But you stopped. You forgot..._

_ 'I don't know you.'_

_ 'Stop acting like you know me.'_

He ran faster.

'...still.'

The cold black vapours buffeted him as he fled from the cage that threatened to impound him.

'Run. Keep running. You won't find anything here...save darkness.'

He still ran.

After all, what else could he do? Except run, and be swallowed in memories...and the dark void of his nightmares.

* * *

_Run. Keep running. After all, I can chase you forever...and sooner or later, I'll catch up._

* * *

_ 'Hey? Are you okay?'_

_Kouichi looked up, finding a brunette offering his hand and a huge grin. 'Need a hand?'_

_He took it, allowing the other to pull him up, still with that cheesy smile on his face. _

_ 'You know, you're practically covered in mud.'_

_Yeah, he realised that. Hence why he had been in a puddle. Not that it had been intentional, having tripped up..._

_Distantly, he heard a male giggling, before the tell-tale rapid footsteps of people running off. _

_But the boy who helped him up was scrutinising him carefully with a slightly angry air, before his lips twisted into a smirk. 'You know,' he commented, loud enough for most of the street to hear. 'That brown colour looks great on you. But I think you look best in navy blue.'_

_He was actually in green and grey. _

_ 'Oh yeah.' He bowed a little hurriedly. 'I'm Kanbara Takuya.'_

_ 'Kimura Kouichi.'_

_ 'Well, Kimura-kun.' The brunette suddenly adopted a sheepish look. 'Do you know the way to Itabashi Elementary School?'_

* * *

_ ''kaa-san?'_

_ 'I'm working late again Kouichi.'_

_He nodded, albeit a little reluctantly. 'I'll make dinner.'_

_His mother ruffled his hair. 'You're such a good boy.'_

* * *

_ 'Hey, why are you sitting on your own there buddy?'_

_Kouichi looked up from his books as Takuya plopped down beside him. 'No lunch?' he asked, examining the spread. 'Honestly, who studies at lunch break?'_

_The raven didn't reply, simply returning to his work._

_ 'Hey.' The other's voice suddenly sounded a lot softer. 'I didn't mean to offend you or anything-' He cut himself off, before switching. 'Aren't you hungry?'_

_ 'No,' Kouichi answered shortly._

_ 'You know, I half expected your stomach to grumble,' the brunette laughed. 'But is there a reason you're sitting alone?'_

_He certainly was persistent._

_ 'No.'_

_ 'Really? Because you were looking rather lonely over here-hah. Thought so.'_

_He had flinched at 'lonely'._

_ 'No worries. I'll fix that. Because from now on, you're eating with me.'_

* * *

_ 'Kimura-san. You need to remain in bed for at least-'_

_The doctor cut off as he watched his patient get up and dig in her closet._

_ 'Kimura-san. You cannot-'_

_She ignored him, pulling out a uniform shirt and pants to change into._

_ 'I can give you a medical certificate so you can be excused from work-'_

_ 'That won't be necessary,' Tomoko interrupted coldly, searching now for her wallet and keys._

_The doctor attempted hopelessly to gain some control over the situation._

_ 'You simply cannot go to work.'_

_She glared at the male. 'And who do you suppose provide for my son and myself if I decide to take a nap?' she asked, before looking at the said son in the doorway._

_ 'Come here,' she said softly._

_ 'You're going to be late 'kaa-san,' he said instead, directing her to the clock._

_ 'Oh dear, you're right. You'll show the doctor out, won't you?'_

_ 'Hai 'kaa-san.'_

_The woman kissed her son on the forehead and left, leaving a flustered doctor behind._

* * *

_ 'Why don't you have any other friends?'_

_ 'What sort of a question is that?'_

_ 'Well...you're a nice guy. And it's not like you're trying to show anyone up or be a stuck up brat; you're an altogether great guy, just a little shy. So what's everyone's problem. I mean, come on! Even the teachers complain.'_

_ 'They say I'm not performing to my full potential.' _

_ 'Which you're not...why?'_

_A pause. 'It's really because of what you just said. I get good enough grades as it is. I work hard, but-'_

_ '-but you double up your assignments and hand in the worse one. I watch you know. Purposely trying to appear dumber than you are?'_

_ 'I suppose that's one blessing. But I'm just feel so out of place compared to everyone else.'_

_ 'Even me?'_

_ 'Honestly...even you. And sometimes, I can't help but envy that.'_

_ 'Envy huh?' The boy grinned. 'You know what, you are human after all.'_

_ 'What exactly do you mean by that?'_

_A shrug. 'Well...shyness isn't exactly a flaw.'_

* * *

_ 'You're leaving?'_

_He sounded almost...hurt._

_ 'I'm sorry!' Takuya cried desperately. ''tou-san's got a transfer. It's not my fault.'_

_ 'I know it's not. It's just that...I've never had a friend like you.'_

_ 'Geez, you're acting as though we'll never see or hear from each other again. Look, I'll promise I'll ring and visit and everything, 'kay? It'll be like I'm right here. I swear.'_

_He offered a pinky to the other boy._

_ 'A pinky promise?'_

_ 'Sure.'_

_He took it, hooking his own little finger around the other one._

_ 'And you better not let anyone push you around, or I'll march right back!'_

* * *

_ 'Kouichi...'_

_He held his grandmother's hand, no longer strong but frail and a mere shadow of what it once had been. _

_ 'You need to know...'_

_He winced involuntarily at the weak, raspy voice that escaped from his grandmother's throat. The same voice that had once sang so beautifully and boomed so powerfully._

_ '...you have a brother. You must...find...Kouji.'_

_His eyes widened. A brother? But how-why-_

_A long-drawn beeping noise broke the illusion, as both occupants in the room stopped breathing._

_One released the held air. One did not...forever stopped._

* * *

_The light shone so bright, right _there_, at the end of the tunnel of darkness...but it moved further even as he ran towards it. In that light was a figure, a beacon he had been searching and chasing since the bombshell had been dropped._

_ 'Kouji!'_

_But he was going too. Turning is back. Leaving..._

_ 'No! Don't go! Don't leave me.'_

_...him._

_Gone._

* * *

He fell, unable to run, no longer hearing the thundering footsteps behind him, ignoring the happier memories descending into the blackness of those bittersweet and downright painful reigned, tears streaming down his face as the contentment faded into pain, hurt, anger...envy...

The darkness clawed at him, threatening to rip him apart. Alone...alone again. No-one to be there, no warm embrace to lean towards, no sweet voice to listen too, save that grating skeletal haunt.

'I've got you now.'

But...

_He felt grief and pain consume him, grip his soul even as its sharp claws threatened to tear him apart. He screamed as the pain filled his mind, though he soon lacked the presence of mind to realise it. As though his very soul was being viciously torn from his body, even as his surroundings changed to pure blackness. Somewhere down the track, he couldn't be sure where, it became rage and anger at the world in general and the unfairness, and all rational thoughts were obliterated in favour of the overflowing dam of emotions raging out of control._

_He could feel nothing; see nothing save the darkness he was surrounded by. At that instant, he was aware of nothing save his own emotion. But just as suddenly as it had come about him, it had disappeared, leaving his mind exhausted from the mental onslaught while the tears fled down his cheeks even as his consciousness left him once more._

_And he had woken up to a new friend. And the prospect of old friends and family returned._

...they were still waiting for him. Who knew how worried his mother was. And BlackTailmon...where was she? And Cherubimon...he was depending on those final spirits...he was depending on _him_.

'Not yet you haven't.'

What was there to fight? But himself. He dug deep, past the anger, past the hurt, past the grief and envy that threatened to consume him, to the days where comfort was there, and where he had accepted.

And he could feel those warm embraces again, feel the bubbly laughter rising...

...and he was laughing. For what reason. He didn't know.

And the cage of darkness suddenly solidified into a chained vulture before him, and the footsteps behind him froze.

He stood, staring in shock as the D-scanner in his pocket shot into his outstretched hands, consuming the chains before him.

And the darkness redoubled its assault. But there was another darkness. Warm, comforting...sanctifying.

A click sounded. A chain threatening to break held. The vulture vanished into his D-scanner as a cry of lost prey echoed in the expanse.

And the beast spirit of darkness was consumed, bonded...but not used.

'Will you run?'

'No. I will fight.'

But not with the beast. With the human.

After all, one battle at a time.

* * *

_You were supposed to run. Because I will chase you eternally till you die. You fight. I bury you now._

_But I will make you run._

Or not...

* * *

_**'Deadly-'**_

'Execute, Spirit Evolution. Duskmon.'

The thing in the darkness growled: low, menacing, beastly...

'Run!'

'No. I won't run.'

'Then die! _**Grave bone!**_'

He recognised the attack, special to the SkullBaluchimon species. So this was his doing. His nightmare. A monster with no emotion. No intelligence. Simply doomed to chase his prey for eternity till they die.

The ground shook, threatening to trample him into oblibion. He could have blasted the wrong-doer, the one who attacked him, into oblivion. But he wasn't running. He wasn't fighting _him_.

He was fighting his own battle.

The ground lifted from his feet.

'_**Grave bone!'**_

** '**_**Ghost move!**_' Duskmon countered, vanishing form the path of prey and reappearing behind his quarry, the skeletal baluchitherium, and slashing with a careful precision, remembering the warmth and comfort and sanctuary, the defender of nightmares as opposed to the creator.

The digimon roared in pain, blasting in random directions and causing the dark warrior to take off to avoid being hit. He could feel the darkness lifting around him, the cold vapours no longer so cold...but he was still in the middle of a very important fight.

And he wasn't going to quit here.

'_**Grave bone!'**_

The baluchitherium trampled towards him again, and he readied his eyes, each aiming carefully between the gaps of the skeletal structure, not avoiding the centre where the data was always compressed.

'_**Geist Abend!'**_

And the red laser beams that shot out hit their mark.

SkullBaluchimon roared in pain, data stemming off as the last of the nightmare cage faded, revealing a forest, an extremely worried Adult, and hundreds of other digimon spirits, all young, most merely at the baby level, crowded in various corners, looking at the light that had set them free from certain death.

Looking at the warrior of darkness who had surpassed expectations. An uncontrollable curse controlled by a young hand.

But it wasn't over. Because control wasn't enough. Purification was needed too. Another step, beyond simply standing up. Another sacrifice. That still remained.

But hope had risen, as the guardian feline lunged for her human companion, watching the data swirl around him and releasing the boy from its cocoon, as in his arms, the ultimate digimon degressed into a small Pupumon in Kouichi's hold as BlackTailmon adapted a position on his head.

'You're crying,' she said softly, watching the moist blue eyes.

'Am I?' Kouichi murmured, looking at the digimon he now held. 'Maybe because now I'm one nightmare less.'

The cat looked down in failure. 'I'm sorry.'

'Don't be,' the other rebuked, turning his gaze upwards. 'That was a lesson I needed to learn.'

'Like?'

'I'll never truly be alone.'

'Papa?'

The two suddenly blinked in unison, staring at the white baby in the human's arms.

'Can you sing me a song, pleeeeeeeeease?'

Kouichi remembered requesting the same in his own childhood, so he smiled and fulfilled the request.

But it wasn't the songs his grandmother sang. Those of innocence and happiness and new dreams.

This was a song of lessons learnt, and paths carved.

This was a song of triumph and regret.

'Itsu ka doko ka de mita you na

Hoshi ga mure tsuki wa aoi yo

Wazuka bakari no hito toki ni

Zutto kokoro ubawareteru...'

* * *

**Post Author's Notes**

Song Translations:

First song: With the Will (Frontier Evolution song)

Standing at a steep cliff and feeling the wind,  
All you can see is your own weakness, right?  
But whatever troubles you have, they'll become the chances to fly far away,  
and they conceal miracles.

Legends have countless heroes.  
It can't be called just a pipe dream.

Now, breathe life into the heroes! I know for a fact:  
the most valuable weapon is inside my heart.  
I won't lose. I want to become stronger  
Even if I'm riddled with injuries, I will set out in search of the future  
I long for With the will

The innocence of my distant memories of chasing rainbows...  
I wonder when I lost that feeling?  
As I come to learn more and more things,  
I don't want to learn how to give up.

My story will continue forever,  
I'll even go against destiny

Now, light a fire under your fighting spirit! I know for a fact:  
The most formidable opponent is the one inside my heart.  
I can't turn back and I won't run away.  
The dream that I was once heading for but looked away from,  
I'll jump right into it With the will

Now, breathe life into the heroes! I know for a fact:  
the most valuable weapon is inside my heart.  
I won't lose. I want to become stronger  
Even if I'm riddled with injuries, I will set out in search of the future  
I long for With the will

Second Song: Innocent ~ Remaining Innocent

no matter how apart we are...

hey!

looking up at the sky, you are far away  
are you looking at the same scenery?

the feelings that won't reach you  
I engrave it in my heart and run

the tomorrow that we dreamed about  
your laughter echoes

so lets create  
a new wind remaining innocent

the memory of enjoying hand in hand  
might disappear from the memory

the reality in front of me  
I looked away from it so that I won't be swept away

the future that we believed in  
we can change it into strength  
and we will be able to meet again  
our hearts are right by each other

no matter how apart we are...

the feelings that won't reach you  
I engrave it in my heart and run

the tomorrow that we dreamed about  
your laughter echoes  
so lets create  
a new wind remaining innocent

Third Song: In the blue (Kouji's image song – Japanese version)

As if I had seen them sometime, somewhere  
The stars clustered, the moon was blue  
In a single moment  
My heart was completely taken from me

Guided by the stars on the evening of that day  
It floated in my heart, murmuring...

In your eyes, that one regret  
Bathed in the moonlight, I laugh  
In my heart, the regret I can't erase  
Repeats every time I lament over those words  
Shivering... in the blue, blue moon

It seems I've grown up just a little  
And have become accustomed to stretching out a bit  
in my nonstop everyday life  
I'm always searching for an answer

Now, It seems to me that only you  
Haven't changed from how you were on that day  
In your eyes, that one regret  
I wonder if I can forget it by running  
In my heart, the regret I can't erase  
This tiny me has become a bit accustomed to that pain  
I'm laughing... in the blue, blue moon

In your eyes, that one regret  
Bathed in the moonlight, I laugh  
In my heart, the regret I can't erase  
Repeats every time I lament over those words  
Shivering... in the blue, blue moon

In your eyes, that one regret  
In my heart, the regret I can't erase  
In your eyes, that one regret  
Blue, blue moon

Remembering... in the blue, blue moon

All songs and translations are taken from anime lyrics dot com.


	11. Scared of the Dark

**Author's Notes**

*Sniffs* I love this chapter to pieces; it's my favourite in the whole story...but the middle-endish part was hard to write.

Ignore what I said about the size in the last chapter. Fixed the plan again. I didn't realise some of the chapters towards the end were like two pages long. So now a total of 16 chapters, including prologue and epilogue, which means I can start the countdown. Combining the chapters saved a cliffhanger this episode, so you should be pleased about that. Cliffhangers may be fun to riwrite, but not so much to read when they're left to hang and dry.

**Up next:** The Two Hands Laced. Led to an audience with Seraphimon, they find a tale with far more loops than they had originally thought. Then, as new threads of the story unravels, some learn that perhaps right and wrong aren't the only two sides after all. Meanwhile, the twins finally meet face to face...but is Kouji ready to accept a truth that will shatter his whole world?

**Chapters Remaining After This:** 5

* * *

**Butterflies' Flight**

AU. Like butterflies, they followed the flame, drawn to his light, despite that fact that following so blindly could potentially lead to corruption. And yet they shy away from the dark, the one thing that may save them yet...

Takuya K & Kouichi K

* * *

**Chapter 10 – Scared of the Dark**

'I don't get it,' Tomoki complained for the uptenth time as the group trekked back through the forest continent after having gained the last remaining spirit: the beast spirit of Ice, Blizzarmon. 'Valduramon is an ultimate digimon, Duskmon is an adult hybrid, and four spirits were losing to that bird and one beats her?'

'I've already explained this,' Bokomon pointed out, though not impatiently, seeing as there wasn't really a better conversation, save perhaps the clash between titans which had helped the young ice warrior gain the upper hand against his beast spirit without the balance of the human one. 'The corrupted power that Lucemon put into the spirits of darkness amplifies its strength beyond control, and that power is said to drive anyone who attempts to use them utterly insane.'

'But that boy was nice,' he frowned, looking at Izumi on his other side, who shrugged, not having had a conversation with him. 'Takuya disagrees,' she pointed out. 'She thinks he's weird.'

'I think he's a little upset with Takuya-nii,' Tomoki explained, looking curiously at the warriors of flame and light walking ahead of them, with a tipsy Neemon tripping behind the pair. 'One of them must be wrong. Either they never knew each other and Kouichi was mistaken, or they did and Takuya forgot.'

'Hmm,' the pseudo-Italian mused. 'That is a bit mind-boggling. But Bokomon, what you said applies for Digimon right? You did say there have never been any other humans here?'

'That's true,' the white gnome nodded. 'Things get a little sketchy when it comes to the human aspect of things, but most things seem to be quite similar.'

'Still,' the blonde pressed. 'It is possible that _all_ the rules don't apply. We still need to do things that you digimon don't do. Eat, drink, breathe...'

'The thing is Izumi,' Bokomon interrupted. 'You really _don't_ need to do all of that, but being from another world where you do, you are simply used to following the same processes. I tried explaining when we first met, but no-body really understood. In essence, we as digimon are no different than you as humans. In this world, all living substances are made from data, in your world, they're made from flesh and blood. The basic physical structure is different from binary code to protein filaments, but the substance of the soul is not a metaphysical concept, and thus can stretch across all sorts of dimensions and universes without a fundamental change to its structure. It's simply the connection of that soul with a living body that creates the different sorts of life forms you see around you.'

'That's an earful,' Junpei from behind them commented. 'But I'm not sure I got all of that. If that's really the case, then did our flesh and blood bodies just turn into data or were our souls relocated?'

'Relocated?' Tomoki froze. 'Like...dead?'

'Of course not,' Bokomon muttered. 'You're here, aren't you? Do you die every time you dream?'

'Well...,' Izumi began. 'Some religions do believe that-'

'Skip the technicalities,' the warrior of thunder mumbled. 'We're Shinto anyway.'

'Us too,' Tomoki nodded.

'Well, _I'm_ Christian,' the blonde replied, a little irked about having been interrupted. 'And we believe that.'

'Oh, whoops.' The brunette grinned a little sheepishly, before returning to the subject at hand. 'Answer, Bokomon?'

'Um, right.' He flicked through a few pages, before stopping at one. 'It says here that the Digital World is a digital reflection of the human world, born from bits of data deleted from computers and electronics from your world. As a result, it tends to parody the proteinated bodies of your world, along with physical structures such as the land, water and air. The ten continents are also mirrored from the basic elements in your world, and the classes-'

'-reflect the main stages of a human's growth cycle,' Junpei finished, having made that particular connection. 'Baby, Child, Adult, Perfect, Ultimate...if you think ultimate transcends perfect.'

'There are also special stages,' Bokomon added. 'Like your hybrid levels: hybrid-H, which is your human evolution, hybrid-B which is your beast evolution, hybrid-A which is advanced and said to be a combination of human and beast spirit, hybrid-Z, zeta, for a combination of five human and beast spirit pairs, and hybrid-U which is the unified form of all the legendary warrior spirits. There is also armour evolution using a special sort of digi-eggs, mode-change which switches between different advantages, and SuperUltimate, which is extremely rare and a higher stage than ultimate. Most SuperUltimate digimon are actually simply classified as Ultimate for simplicity's sake, as Valduramon is a digivolved form of Valkyrimon who is also Ultimate level.'

'I'm afraid I lost you somewhere in all that,' Izumi muttered, shaking her head. 'So what are we exactly? Flesh and blood or data?'

'A cross between both,' Bokomon said plainly. 'And we're the same. If this world shadowed another world out there, we may be different.'

'There's other worlds out there?' Tomoki asked, over his brief scare. 'Cool...but I wish there were easier ways.'

'Like being able to go home whenever we could,' Junpei agreed. 'But I think if I had been given that chance, I wouldn't ever have come back.'

Izumi smirked at him. 'You know, you've really grown up.'

Junpei looked like he was going to reply, but he tripped over Neemon who had chosen a rather unideal spot to plop down in.

'I guess we're stopping,' Takuya blinked, after exchanging glances with a preoccupied Kouji.

The boy grunted and plopped down beside the eldest.

'Aren't we setting up a camp-fire?' Izumi asked, pointing at the setting sun flittering through the canopy.

The other four stare at Junpei. 'I believe that's your job.'

The warrior of thunder groaned.

* * *

By the time the last rays of sunshine faded on the horizon cloaked by the tree canopy behind them, the fire, a combination of Junpei, Kouji and Takuya's efforts, was merrily cacking and skewered meat apples (or as the warrior of thunder put it, that 'meat-tasting-rabbit-food') were roasting on sticks by the flame. A slightly tense atmosphere was about the campsite, mainly due to the last time they had been in the forest: the Bakumon, the Bakemon, the marshes, the chaos of two uncontrollable beast spirits and the lost of a human one. Sure in the water continent they had lost three spirits, two of which belonged to them by heritance, but they hadn't theoretically _lost_ anything...unless a rather unhealthy dose of petrifaction counted as a loss of peace.

They were still somewhat recovering from that, if the incident with Tomoki's beast spirit was any indication. He himself couldn't help but think he wouldn't have almost shattered the largest glacier on the ice continent, along with a huddle of Yukidarumon who just happened to live underneath. The ice warrior still shook at that, though the frozen snowmen were more than forgiving at the barely averted chaos. The main fact of that particular matter was though, just like Takuya, his heart wasn't quite as set as it would have been, after such an unexpected shock to the system.

The prospect of death after facing an unbeatable guardian of the wind continent at one of the most coincidental worst-timings in history, only for that 'invincible' digimon to be beaten by another with little control over his own overwhelming power. They were extremely lucky the blasts and storm had missed...seeing as the two islands and most of the ocean had been sucked bone dry of data. It was only the grass under them that survived, save a few scarce puddles...and they themselves.

Needless to say, they were all feeling a little apprehensive after that encounter, especially with the degree of loyalty LadyDevimon had shown to her companion, considering the risk of having such an enormous level of power being redirected. Takuya's had rebounded and knocked him out with a fever which had broken hours later, not to mention completely obliterating the beast spirit which had been the instigator of the chaos to begin with. If the spirits of darkness were cursed, having them rebound could kill someone...couldn't it?

And what if it had? He had only evolved because _they_ had been struggling. But still, who's side was he fighting for? Destroying the beast spirits of wind and water, almost levelling an entire continent...fighting against a beast spirit? Kouji was right; how could you trust someone who helped you when they themselves were on the enemy's side?

And then there was the fact that they were all exhausted, after the chaos that had been shadowing them since the last time they had stepped into this particular aspect of the forest.

'God I'm exhausted,' Takuya said at that exact same moment, lying down onto the twigs and grass and looking at about a fourty-five degree slant, before tilting his head up so his eyeline was perpendicular to the surface. 'There are no clouds tonight. A clear sky.'

'Good,' Junpei sighed in relief. 'I hate clouds. Or any sort of storm.'

'I don't,' Izumi frowned. 'I mean, I love a clear sky and all, but it's so...still. Should it be like that? There's no wind.'

'You're the warrior of wind,' the goggle-wearing brunette pointed out. 'Of course the absence of it's gonna bother you.'

'But it is weird,' Bokomon admitted, looking up from his book. 'The forest kingdom tends to be quite windy. But the world's descending into chaos. The dark continent is becoming a sanctuary; digimon who feared the mysterious and unknown place are running there as their own places crumble. The autumn leaf fair has been in the same place for about a month now; they never stay in the same place for more than a week at a time. The water continent has been completely drained of water; their inhabitants have fled. The damage from Cerberusmon's battle with Agunimon in the Flame Continent led some of the younger inhabitants to cross the earth continent, which is practically a frozen wasteland since it's lost its fertility. And I'd hate to think what's going to happen to the Wind Continent now that they've lost their bodyguard. The Ice Continent is far more fragile than it should be, and the Steel Continent last I heard was being bombarded by a herd of Centalmon and their crazy leader...you get the idea.'

The five humans blinked at the rapid-fire monologue. 'I lost you somewhere at the forest kingdom.'

Bokomon groaned. It always seemed to happen to him.

'Well,' Takuya yawned. 'Can we draw straws? I want to turn in.'

The others shrugged, and did so. Tomoki wound up with the short stick.

* * *

Kouichi groaned lightly, before rolling over...and falling out of the tree, only barely managing to land on his feet before he took a nosedive.

'BlackTailmon?' he asked, looking at the branch above him, where the feline _had_ been lounging. Only, she wasn't there. A note was though, once he managed to climb up again, which he could only read thanks to his spirits.

_Be back before sundown. Going to find some fish. Don't sleep in after dark._

Signed with a pawprint.

'Right,' the boy thought out loud. 'What was the point of that last statement?'

He looked up, finding a few scattered stars in the sky and the three moons blinking through the canopy. It was well past the return time. And BlackTailmon was _never_ late. After all, she was a top bodyguard. 'Late' simply wasn't in the manual.

'BlackTailmon!' he called again, lighter this time.

But again, he got no reply.

* * *

Tomoki stared around again, feeling he was being watched, before brushing it off for the uptenth time as paranoia.

Until he saw something shoot past, and rethought that notion. It was a little too often and unsettling for paranoia.

'Guys! Wake up!' he shouted, and not a moment too soon, as a blur on the trees suddenly shot for the nearest figure, the suddenly awake Izumi who rolled away and onto Junpei.

'Eek,' he shrieked, before shoving Izumi back away as another shadowy blast shot between them.

The other two were up by then, and in a smooth movement, all five had spirit evolved into the only forms that could, save Kouji who actually had a choice and had immediately gone for the more powerful of the two.

'What the hell?' Agunimon growled, staring at the Bakumon as it shot out of sight again, followed by a brief scattering as several Owlmon scooted for cover and a brief hiss which did _not_ sound anything similar. 'I think that just proved Kouji's point.'

Kouji snarled, but not at Takuya.

Around them somewhere, seeing as even the fire and Kouji's spirits didn't seem to be enough to allow them enough visibility to see clearly due to the canopy overhead, Bakumon's voice shouted down on them.

'_**Nightmare syndrome!'**_

The black mist had been aimed at Blizzarmon, who did the best thing he could think of in the circumstances and threw his axes side on.

The attack hit and rebounded, hitting the feline who had been scouting the situation.

Horrified at the mistake and the possible circumstances of having incurred Cherubimon's wrath...or the fabled warrior of darkness, he fled.

Just as the BlackTailmon evolved into her Perfect Stage and launched an attack.

'_**Darkness Wave!'**_

Izumi snarled, angry at the turn, having missed the reflection...like the others, to be honest, save Bokomon and Neemon cowering beside the remains of their campfire as the canopy was blasted off.

'_**Breeza Petalo!'**_ Fairymon countered, sending a blast of wind to counteract the dark bats. 'Guys, some help!'

'Gotcha!' Agunimon returned, readying his gauntlets. '_**Burning Salamander!'**_

The others followed suit.

_** 'Lightning Blitz!'**_

_** 'Solar Laser!'**_

_** 'Avalanche step!'**_

The combination barely kept back the Perfect's attack, as the demon woman shot at the two airborne, who immediately, leaving behind the remnants of thunder and wind, scattered.

'C'mon,' the warrior of fire shouted. 'We should be a match for her. She's just a Perfect.'

'Just?' Blitzmon shouted sceptically, changing direction and slamming the opponent with an electrified body slam.

'_**Lightning Bomber!**_' he cried upon impact, diverting the demon who had been diving at Blizzarmon.

'Thanks,' the snow-ape called out, as claws slashed in the air. '_**Gletscher Torpedo!'**_

The arrow heads on his braids launched for the Perfect digimon, who was forced to dodge and thus divert her claws from their previous target.

'Hey,' Blitzmon sighed. 'Thanks yourself.'

From the ground, the other two scowled in unison, looking for an opening while firing lasers and fire darts around the wind and thunder, making sure not to accidently hit the warrior of ice or his axes.

But that was a lot easier said than done, because LadyDevimon was extremely fast...and she had a few tricks up her sleeve for the ones who dared hurt those precious to her.

* * *

Kouichi had wandered farther from his initial resting spot when he noted the flashes of light bursting from the canopy in the opposite direction, accompanied by a speeding Bakumon who looked to be fleeing in terror...until he suddenly pulled short as he realised who he had almost run in to.

'O-oh,' the Child stuttered in fear, backing up a few paces. 'I-I-'

The chosen of darkness stared curiously at the other, unable to fathom the petrified state he was in. 'Did something happen?' he asked, concerned. 'Have you seen BlackTailmon?'

The garble of words that followed was enough to send him running at full speed towards the chaos...which the Bakumon was visibly thankful for. It hadn't been intentional after all, and he most certainly did _not_ want to die in the hands of a deranged darkness warrior.

* * *

The others smelled a cat when they saw the demon lady suddenly vanish, but what they hadn't expected was the glowing purple eyes in the dark, staring straight at Agunimon.

'Be careful,' Bokomon yelled. 'The Tailmon species can hypnotise their enemies.'

'Couldn't you have told us that before?' Garrmon growled, extending his shoulder blades and readying himself for a match of speed. '_**Speed Star!'**_

Using the tree nearest to himself as leverage, he launched himself into the air with the speed of light...one of the quirks of being the warrior thereof. But BlackTailmon's were walkers of the night, and being that time of the day, she was able to dodge. The attack however gained the attempted advantage of breaking eye contact, and the higher visibility of accidently blasting the canopy apart.

The other four stared at Garrmon, who blushed as well as a metallic wolf could. 'Accident,' he said gruffly, as the others chortled, before immediately switching to fighting the newly-evolved Perfect again.

'Great,' Fairymon groaned. 'Now she's got more room to fly.'

'So do we,' Blitzmon pointed out, before looking at Kouji. 'You should switch to Wolfmon.'

Garrmon nodded. 'Slide evolution. Wolfmon.'

And with a swirl of data, the tall human warrior of light aimed his laser at the bodyguard of the beast Celestial. '_**Licht Kugel!'**_

She dodged, retaliating with a darkness spear, which Kouji immediately parried with his Licht Schwerts. In her blind spot, Agunimon whirled, summoning up a tornado of fire around him before launching it with a cry of _**'Salamander Break!'**_

The others quickly followed up.

'_**Lightning Bomber!'**_

_** 'Roseo Temporale!'**_

_** 'Avalanche Step!'**_

_** 'Licht Seiger!'**_

Trapped in a lockdown with the light warrior, the female bodyguard had no room to dodge, shrieking in pain as the attacks bombarded her body and ejected her data. They readied themselves for another attack, only to be stopped as a blur shot out of the trees and caught the falling BlackTailmon.

'Stop it!' Kouichi shrieked, though not looking at the others, his entire attention in the feline in his arms as Blitzmon hurriedly caught the axes Blizzarmon had thrown a moment too soon before they hit the human instead of the digimon. 'BlackTailmon!'

The skin and fur literally fell apart into blood and other interstitial fluids no-one really wanted to think about. But five of the six humans watching couldn't help but thing that it was far more gruesome than any other digimon's death...maybe it was because of the bond she had developed with a human, or maybe because she had simply been a victim of nightmare and confusion in the wrong place at the wrong time. Digimon didn't have the mental capacities to fight nightmares off reality as humans did.

The dark haired boy, his hands stained with that blood even when the rest had dissolved into a black-like dust, looked up in a sudden unbidden anger. Himself, he never stood up for, but when it came to his friends...

'You refused to fight your own friends,' the boy snarled, tone low and about as sharp as an ice blade. 'And yet you don't do the same for someone who was trying to help.'

'She attacked-' Agunimon began, dumbfounded, before the other cut him off.

'She got hit by the Nightmare Syndrome that you lot reflected!'

Blizzarmon suddenly felt rather guilty, seeing as it was his attack that had done the damage. And now that he thought back, he remembered the black mist hitting the side of his blade and bouncing into the trees. 'Oh.'

The others didn't say anything. What was there to say? Kouichi was right. When it had been Tomoki, they had refused to fight, but with someone they were suspicious with, they hadn't even thought of the consequences.

And now it appeared it was too late, as the boy began speaking again, Takuya suddenly having a frightening sense of déjà vu, almost as if he'd witnessed this exact reaction before and knowing it hadn't been pretty.

'I may let things go when it's me concerned, but _no-one_ hurts a friend and gets away with it.' He raised a hand, code swirling as they did in all children's evolution, before swiping it through his D-scanner in one fluid motion. 'Execute, Beast Spirit Evolution!'

And he instantly regretted it...too late.

'Oh dear,' Bokomon shook. 'I didn't want to die like this, but we're all done for.'

'Huh? What?'

The others turned to the white gnome, only to whip back to the dark haired human, hair whipping on his head and eyes scrunched in pain as hands held his head in an attempt to save face. But actions and decisions taken in haste almost always have consequences that one does not consider, and he _really_ should have known that with the difficulty he had controlling his human spirit on a good day, there was no way he'd be able to control the _beast_ as he was: hurt, shocked, angry...

...so it was rather unavoidable that the beast that shouted out its name to the world was just that, a beast.

'Velgmon.'

Bokomon continued to tremble, and Neemon had quietly passed out beside him, figuring he'd at least not be conscious to witness his death at the hands of the deathbringer...and it was rather tempting for the others to follow suit.

'What _is_ that?' Fairymon asked, barely keeping the tremble out of her voice. 'Tell me it's not worse than Duskmon.' Seeing as they couldn't really call 'it' a human at this stage as the beast gave a crying roar.

'Oh, it's a _lot_ worse than Duskmon,' the white gnome shook. '_That_ thing is known in the digital world as death itself. He's said to only ever appear before the ultimate destruction.'

Unconsciously, the yellow rabbit mumbled something incoherent.

'It's something all digimon fear. If there was a human in there before, it's definitely gone now!'

The beast roared again, as though validating the point.

'We're done!' Bokomon cried, covering his ears, as the vulture extended its wings and took flight.

And the five warriors frozen at the nightmarish fiend before them were rather inclined to agree.

'We...have to do something,' Agunimon said, for once at a complete loss. 'We can't just stand here.'

'He's right,' Fairymon agreed, though she was rather tempted to follow Bokomon's lead and hide in the debris that Garrmon's attack had dropped. 'We have to at least try and win. If we think we can't, we're doomed from the start.'

The others watched the bird of prey circling a wide expanse above them.

'Right.' Blizzarmon swallowed. 'There's nothing for it.'

'We're gonna die,' Blizmon wailed, but he too went along with the others, shooting a large stream of electricity that combined with Fairymon's wind and Agunimon's fire.

The triple attack didn't even faze Velgmon as it dipped a wing to lower itself to the groung.

'Try the eyes,' Tomoki suggested, aiming the axes at the more vulnerable feathers. 'And the tip of its wings.'

'Right,' the others chorused, aiming their attacks at the designated areas.

But it hadn't fazed the bird, who was now carving a circle into the ground.

'What's he doing?' Agunimon blinked, firing flame fists with no effect.

'It's his Zone Deleter,' Bokomon replied helpfully. 'It'll disintegrate anything caught in its dome.'

'Disintegrate?' the others chorused, before making a beeline to a place _not_ encased in the circle as the walls rose, the two who could fly taking straight to the air while the others (Kouji back in Garrmon's faster form and snatching up the two Child digimon) racing frantically for the perimeter.

'_**Zone Deleter!'**_ Velgemon roared, his third eye glowing green as the semi-sphere formed solid. It vanished thereafter, leaving a hole in existence where the dome had once been.

Even though all seven of them had made it out of the perimeter, the energy alone was enough to fling them to the ground, devolved. The beast warrior of light had, in his haste, closed his mouth upon the other two, so Garrmon's armour and teeth had saved Bokomon and Neemon from a de-digivoltution.

The five humans were however now at death's mercy, with nothing left to fight with as Velgmon swooped upon the nearest victims: Kouji, Bokomon and Neemon.

'_**Master of Darkness!'**_

They barely rolled out of the way, Bokomon and Neemon stackpiling each other in their haste and Kouji rolling in the other direction, inevitably towards the deadly beast to avoid the red energy beams. Only, his back seared in pain at the clipped lasers that had managed to score a mark.

'Kouji!' The others shouted, and he rolled onto his sore back to find Velgmon directly above him, a suppressed roar grinding his throat as he lowered the talons aimed for the other's heart.

Kouji, for perhaps the first time in his life, squeezed his eyes shut in true fear, preparing for the ending, thinking of why he had come, thinking of everything he should and could have done but hadn't-

If he ever made it back to the human world, he was going to make things right.

Then he forced his eyes open again as a single tear landed on them.

Velgmon reared back in agony, talons tearing free from the navy jacket as the bird of prey roared and attempted to clutch its head, much like the human had done before him. He lurched back, letting his quarry free as he sat up and the other's stared in anticipation, waiting, hoping, unbelieving...

...until a swirl of data turned him back into his human form, torn and horrified, stumbling away...away...

'Hey!' Kouji shouted after him. 'Wait!'

But the other didn't wait.

Something nagged him. Just something about the way he had suddenly stopped, something about the tear of mourning that had fallen on his body before his death; ironic, seeing as he was the symbol of apocalypse in this Digital World. Something was just _there_, something else that he couldn't see but had to know.

So he followed his instincts, and ran after him, ignoring the searing pain from the sudden movement as it dulled to a softer ache.

And leaving his friends behind as he chased destiny's tail.


	12. The Two Hands Laced

**Author's Notes**

A few references to previous chapter, namely the twin's 'first' meeting in the prologue and the scene where Kouji sees his mother in the TV forest in Reality's Illusion (Chapter 3).

There's also a Sailor Saturn reference in there. Anyone pick it out?

**Chapters remaining after this: **4

**Up next:** The Titans Clash: The final battle of the Digital World begins, and the legendary warriors find themselves caught in the middle, but more is at stake than the fate of one world. The gate opens up again, leaving both worlds on the brink of permanent destruction, and their life lies in the hands of one person...only, someone else has been waiting for this once-in-a-lifetime chance.

Enjoy.

* * *

**Butterflies' Flight**

AU. Like butterflies, they followed the flame, drawn to his light, despite that fact that following so blindly could potentially lead to corruption. And yet they shy away from the dark, the one thing that may save them yet...

Takuya K & Kouichi K

* * *

**Chapter 11 – The Two Hands Laced**

'Kouji! Come back!' Izumi shouted at the warrior of light's retreating back, but if he heard, he didn't listen.

The blonde groaned, half from pain as she pulled herself from the ground, and half from exasperation. '_What_ is he doing?'

'I thought he'd abandoned the lone wolf act,' Junpei agreed, looking like he shared her sentiments as me helped Tomoki up beside him.

'Maybe he knows something we don't,' the warrior of ice pointed out reasonably. 'We'll never catch him, or them, anyway.'

'Yeah...' the half-Italian sighed, before looking at the place where BlackTailmon breathed her last breaths. 'God, I feel horrible now. Knowing she was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.'

'Not to mention totally creeped. And I thought darkness couldn't get any scarier.' The warrior of thunder shivered at the very thought. 'Forget about hurting or killing us, that _thing_ looked as it was going to mutilate us or eat us whole.'

'He wouldn't have,' Takuya spoke up, having succeeded in poking Neemon awake. 'He never would have gone that far. Ever. He was right.'

'Huh?' Junpei gave him an odd look. 'What makes you say that? I thought you said you don't know him.'

'That's not what the other kid thinks,' Tomoki pointed out. 'But I have to agree with Takuya. He just seems too kind.'

'Kindness is easily overpowered by evil,' the only female present recited, remembering the anime she was rather fond of watching. 'But he seemed rather strong as well. Bokomon did say he should have theoretically lost his mind by now.'

'Actually Izumi,' the white gnome corrected. 'Quite a while ago. And to be able to pull out of a bloodlust like that, which I remind you Takuya was unable to even without the motive, he must have had a rather directional goal that brought him here to the Digital World in the first place. And seeing what happened, I'd think that goal somehow concerns Kouji.'

All three brunettes shared looks of confusion as Izumi brushed off her skirt. 'What do those two have to do with each other?' she wondered, before adding as an afterthought. 'Apart from looking somewhat similar.'

'No way,' the eldest rebuked. 'Those two look nothing alike.'

'I dunno,' the girl debated. 'If you cut and messed up Kouji's hair and got rid of the bandana, put him in more worn out clothes, then maybe...'

'Worn out?' Tomoki asked. 'How come?'

Izumi flushed slightly. 'Uh...well,' she stammered. 'It...his...well...' She rounded on Takuya suddenly. 'Why did _you _say he wouldn't have?'

The addressed thought for a moment, then came up relatively blank, memory wise. 'It just felt like déjà vu,' he attempted to explain. 'Like I've seen that reaction from him before, but I don't remember seeing him before the train from Jiyugaoka station-' He cut off suddenly, realising he _hadn't_ remembered that until he said that. 'Okay, now I'm really getting confused.'

'Takuya-nii?' Tomoki asked, looking up at him. 'Is something wrong?'

The brunette shrugged. 'I really don't know,' he admitted. 'A while ago, I would have said nothing, but I feel like I was a whole different person for the last few years...pretty much a jerk. Being in the Digital World seems to have changed that. Honestly..' He grinned suddenly. 'I feel like the new and improved Takuya, improved from the old one I mean.'

Izumi's green eyes started at him. 'You didn't seem like a jerk here. Just your average sixth grade not-so-mature guy.'

'As far as you're concerned, but it was Tomoki who really made me see that.'

'Huh?' The youngest blinked. 'What did I do?'

'More like what _didn't_ you do,' his surrogate brother counted. 'You're a lot like my brother, but being here and in a different environment and all where you're a _legendary warrior_ and being brave enough to fight on your own, your nightmares, and even your friends...' His voice trailed off slightly. 'But you're still a kid. You've still got that innocent look I doubt the rest of us have. You're the one who trusts someone who worked for the enemy and who still doesn't believe that they'll fall to evil even while almost getting clawed by them. You're the one who was strong enough to tell me I was wrong.'

Tomoki grinned at the phrase. 'I didn't do that much.'

'As much as I'd _hate_ to admit it,' Izumi smiled. 'Takuya's right. You were the one who tried to reach out for him, even though you didn't have your spirit. And you managed to control your beast spirit too.'

'Yes, yes,' Bokomon interrupted. 'That's good and all, but I think the rest of you are selling yourselves short.'

'Oh yeah,' Neemon input. 'The Floramon. And the wind factory.'

'Don't interrupt,' the gnome snapped, snapping the rabbit's waistband. 'But yes. The Floramon and the Wind Factory. Not to mention Cerberusmon, the Village of Nature Spirits, the Gotsumon Village and several other situations too. Sure you've made some mistakes here and there, but if you don't, how will you learn?'

'Good point,' Junpei said. 'Though I think we really messed up this time.'

The mess behind them was enough of a reminder.

'Not necessarily Junpei,' Bokomon rationalised. 'The reasoning was sound. It would have been rather naive to fully trust someone who is theoretically working against us, so we weren't wrong in fighting someone whose allegiance lies in the destruction of the Digital World. And I'd be suspicious if someone claimed they knew me and I didn't know them, regardless if I had simply forgotten or there was something else going on. And one thing about Digimon, their data is uploaded, scanned, fixed and then reconfigured and downloaded again. In other words, they are reborn.'

'So they don't die? They just get purified?' Tomoki asked.

Bokomon nodded. 'Of course, the details are a little fiddly; memories, soul aspects and that sort of thing, but in essence, they are reborn, and the stronger the bonds with the world, the more likely they will be as they were before.'

'Man this world gets more confusing by the minute,' Takuya groaned. 'If my brother could, he would have murdered me by now. But when I go home, I'm fixing things with him. And my parents.'

'You're parents?' Junpei asked, before getting elbowed by Izumi.

'Yeah.' He paused for a minute, before shrugging in a 'what the heck' manner and continuing. 'They've been fighting a lot lately, even since we moved to Shibuya. And I don't think I went about the right way at being frustrated.'

'By being a jerk to your brother?' the eldest asked again, shuffling sideways to avoid an elbow to the stomach again.

'Yeah, by being a jerk to your brother.'

'You know what,' Tomoki said suddenly. 'I realised I wasn't being fare to mine either. He's in collage, and I always thought he was pretty mean, but now I see he was simply doing it for my own good, so I'd learn to rely on myself and stand on my own two feet. First thing I'm going to do when I get home is give him a big hug and thank him. And then show him how much I've grown up.'

'Tomoki's got the right idea,' Izumi nodded. 'Give your brother a hug, say you're sorry, and try to be how your little brother's older brother should be like.'

'Yeah,' Takuya agreed. 'What about you two?'

'No siblings,' the blonde said. 'But I need to apologize to someone too. And now that I know myself and how to be a friend, I won't have to be alone anymore. I've got you guys, and I'll make new friends too.'

'Hey,' Junpei said indignantly, not noticing the D-scanners beginning to flash. 'That was what I was going to say. But same to point, no more chocolate cards and magic tricks. It's time for a new Shibiyama Junpei.'

The four laughed, before the trees behind them suddenly split into a path.

'What the-?' Izumi began, before noticing the flashing from her pocket. She pulled out her scanner, blinking at the map that suddenly appeared. 'I think someone wants us to go somewhere.'

The other three, still somewhat sore, groaned. 'Sure, why not. It's not like we have anywhere to be right now.'

It was probably better to let Kouji find them. He seemed better at that than they were.

* * *

Kouichi ran. He pelted through the darkness, nothing standing long enough for him to crash into them, until he finally collapsed amidst a clearing and cried.

Behind him, the footsteps ceased. But he ignored them, focused on his own swirling thoughts.

_Dammit, this wasn't how things were supposed to go._

Whatever possessed Bakumon to attack again after a defeat was beyond him; perhaps he was one of those digimon who, like Cerberusmon, drove death as their bidding. But BlackTailmon shouldn't have gotten caught up in that fight, the other shouldn't have turned so easily (though now, the waning night a bit more calming than the previous storm, and left alone, the inner storm as well, he realised that they had a right to not trust the two of them), and she shouldn't haven been injured so badly as to be killed, and he shouldn't have used a spirit he knew he couldn't control for revenge. He shouldn't have did that at all. No matter who it was. No matter what they did. But especially not when two of them were one of the best friends he had ever had (who coincidently should have remembered him) and the brother about which he had never known.

And then, going on about things that shouldn't have happened, his mother shouldn't have had to raise one son alone while barely being able to support herself. He didn't know his father's circumstances, but he did know they were more financially well off than they were, and he had remarried as well. That angered him at times, but he found that, even then, he could not blame the new woman in his life. He could envy the dog; really, he should have had the opportunity to bond with his twin like that. And even from such a distance, he could see his brother, like him yet not, had grown up alone. Another thing that shouldn't have happened. Heck, their family shouldn't have been split at all.

And his grandmother...his grandmother shouldn't have died. She shouldn't have shattered his peaceful world and thrown it into a disarray, but would he _ever_ have known otherwise, about a brother that had barely been a part of his life?

And he should never have come _here_. He still didn't know how that one had happened.

But all of it had. And he wouldn't, _couldn't_ take it back. But loosing another person close to him (it didn't matter she was a digimon, it didn't matter if she would be reborn; odds were, he wouldn't see here anyway) was perhaps the one thing he would deny time if he could.

'Why is it...' he asked himself aloud. 'That every person I love is either hurt or taken away?'

'You know,' Kouji's voice said behind him, causing the boy on his knees to stiffen. 'I used to think it was easier to just not get close to people, because them leaving was an inevitable part of life. But coming here, I've realised I was wrong. As hard as it is when people leave...or die...we humans simply can't live without that companionship. There's no sense pushing other people away because others have come and gone. At least she wasn't your mother.'

Already stiff, the other had tensed further, but he forced himself to his feet to look at the other. 'Why did you come?' he asked quietly, and with a hint of fear.

Kouji looked rather uncomfortable himself. 'I don't know,' he confessed. 'I just felt like I had to. Besides, you shouldn't be alone.'

Kouichi almost appeared to curl inwards. 'I'm used to being alone.'

'So am I.'

The two stood in silence for a while after, one knowing what he wanted to say but not how to say it, and the other simply lost and entirely wrong-footed. And neither were very good at small talk.

But the way Kouji had spoken before, it was almost as if he understood. But who..?

'Have you lost someone?' Kouichi asked hesitantly. 'Someone close to you?'

'My mother.'

He started. 'You're-' He wasn't sure how he would feel about that. After all, his mother had told him they were divorced, and that had left to a hatred that was perhaps not so justly founded. But at the same time, his, their, father was claiming that the other woman who had once been a part of his life was dead and buried. As far as he himself went, he couldn't complain; neither parent had mentioned the twin, and trust on all sides was about to be shattered.

'What is it?' Kouji frowned.

'I-I-' the other stuttered, before closing his eyes and attempting to even his breathing. 'I don't know.'

If anything, the warrior of light was even more confused, and when he was confused, he tended to get a little frustrated. 'You don't know? Know what?' For that matter, he didn't know why he was having this conversation in the first place, but something was compelling him.

'I don't know what to think anymore.'

The lighter and sharper blue regarded him.

_Just talk. Just tell him. There isn't any right way to do this, so just do it._

'My parents are divorced,' he said suddenly, before another awkward silence could descend. 'I live with my mother, and it's not easy for her. Her job's hard on her and she doesn't make much, but she always makes sure I have what I need, even if it meant sacrificing things for herself. She deserves better than that, but she always says all she needs is for me to be happy.'

Kouji opened his mouth, but the other stopped him. 'No, don't. Please.'

Even more confused, he closed his mouth again.

Kouichi continued. 'You remember when I stopped you in the flower shop?'

The other started. He had forgotten about that.

'Yeah...' he frowned slightly, remembering he had recognised him, and the interruption that Ophanimon's call had make. 'You followed me here, didn't you.'

The boy looked as guilty as charged.

The frown deepened. 'Why? And how did you know who I was? I haven't seen you before. And what exactly were you going to say?'

It had meant to come out someone indifferent, but he had wavered on the last question. Something had been nagging since that day, since he had first come to the Digital World, but more so since the shape-shifter fiasco. And he had a feeling that this confrontation was going to put it to rest.

What he hadn't considered was that things get worse before they get better.

He had a feeling that all questions had the same answer. What he hadn't expected, was the answer itself.

'You're my brother.'

With one frozen, the other pressed on.

'Our parents divorced when we were really young,' he explained, knowing how unbelievable he sounded, knowing there was no reason Kouji, his _brother_ would believe him without proof, but also knowing that there had to be at least _something_ there that would tell him. Some kind of feeling, twin ESP of whatever, just _anything_ that would make something good come out of all this. 'Our father took you. He told you 'kaa-san was dead, but she's not. She's alive, just sick, and-'

'Liar!' Kouji snapped suddenly, and with heartfelt anger at the proposition. '_My_ father wouldn't do that.'

'I'm not lying,' the other insisted, backing up slightly in fright at the wolf-like snarl in the other's throat. 'It's true-'

'Shut up,' Kouji roared, and the other immediately did, backing up a step further as the D-scanner was built from the other's pocket. 'You said we went too far; you've crossed a line yourself!'

Data swirled, but he was too caught up in saving a shattered world to realise he was making the same mistake the other had, evolving for the wrong reasons...

'Execute, Spirit Evolution. Wolfmon.'

The other fingered his own D-scanner, pressed against a trunk now, before pushing it deeper into his pocket.

Knowing the mistakes he made, he was doubtful about the beast spirit. His human spirit however was perfectly usable, but for this, he could not do so.

This was _his_ fight, without a wall or shadow to hide behind. Even if he was losing it.

* * *

The group of six finally, with the help of their D-scanners and mysteriously moving trees and blockages, finally found themselves facing a beautiful castle with parodied one in a fairy tale...with a guard of course.

Said guard, a Sorcerymon, simply turned and led them to the inner chambers, and then left them to resume his vigil.

'Okay...' Takuya began, looking at the angeloid trapped in a coffin-like glass crystal above them. 'Is this a parody of Snow White or something?'

'Yeah,' Junpei rolled his eyes. 'Like anyone can reach up there to kiss him.'

'We've got wings,' Izumi, a bit unwisely, pointed out.

'Are you volunteering?'

'Of course not!'

Tomoki, ignoring the other three, looked at the shadows cast on the wall. 'Hey, Bokomon,' he hailed. 'There's something written here.'

Bokomon came over, followed by the rest. 'Indeed there is,' he mused. 'It's says: "Let your lights shine as one".'

'And what the heck does that mean?' Takuya asked, before his D-scanner suddenly burst forward in light. 'The hell-'

The others looked at their own D-scanners which were reacting similarly. 'Maybe we're supposed to point them up there,' the warrior of ice suggested, pointing to the crystal.

The others did so, and the spirit split asunder.

When the light cleared, the angel was descending to the ground.s

'Were you the ones who awoke me?' the digimon said, voice slow and rumbling, almost regal-like.

'We...are,' Izumi replied, still staring in awe. 'And you are-?'

Bokomon pointed at him. 'This is Lord Seraphimon,' he introduced. 'One of the three Celestial Digimon.'

Seraphimon nodded, regarding the humans before him. 'Where is the fifth?' he asked, before shaking his head. 'Never mind, I see a wrongly ordered world descending into disorder.'

'Huh?' the goggle-wearing brunette blinked, before shrugging it off. 'Never mind.'

'Could we get an explanation bud?' Junpei asked, before being elbowed by Izumi again. 'Oww...'

'He's got a point,' Tomoki blinked up at the female. 'How did things get this bad? Bokomon told us about the legend and the Golden Age, but what made everything change?'

'It's a long story,' the Great Angel sighed. This world has seen many wars, much pain and suffering...the Golden Age that was the epitome of this world's history has long since been overwritten by corruption. It may not always be visible, but the corruption always exists, data swirling to replace that which is lost on the surface, but always beneath, the damaged scars still remain. As with I. While encased in this prism, by body was able to regenerate, by spirit cannot, and so it must be that my soul will be pulled into the databank, and the data which gives me my form returned to the world's structure from which it originated. But on a much larger scale, the entire world deteriorates a little more every time it attempts to rebuild itself.

'There is only so many times something can be fixed in the same quality to which it was originally made. This world was at its prime in the Golden Age, but smaller disagreements within sectors and between digimon led to certain parts of the world failing: Steel Town in the Steel Continent is an example, and the oasis on the Earth Continent. In other areas, the damage is repaired, such as the Flame Terminal, but the soil is fragile underneath, and more easily broken. The world is descending into chaos, and it is either to take it back to its prime or destroy it completely and restart.

'Opinions differ greatly.' The angel sighed. 'I assume Lady Ophanimon sent you all here. Do not distrust her; she has the world's best intentions as heart. As does Lord Cherubimon, and yet they differ in their methods. Perhaps one is right, perhaps the other. It could be possible that neither one is wholly correct. Once, I agreed with Ophanimon, a long time ago when the world was just coming out of its Golden Age. There, when I was struck. By who, I knew not, and still lack the knowledge thereof, but that is irrelevant. Ophanimon had been by my side then, and she had sealed me here in the hopes that I could regain my strength, and with it, my spirit. She is, after all, the goddess of Life. She refuses to see death as the end, even while even she must use it as a means of attainment. Cherubimon disagrees; he would, representing death while Ophanimon represents life. Like your human concept of Yin and Yang to an extent; the two are opposing forces of one another, while I stand between them...'

His voice trailed off as he breathed deeply, pain lacing the sound that wretched itself from his throat.

'Tell me,' he said thereafter. 'What are you fighting for?'

'To save the Digital World?' Takuya replied without hesitation.

'At whatever cost?'

Here, the boy glanced at the others, whom, while showing a slight bit more reluctance, still agreed. 'At whatever cost,' he repeated, as the others murmured their consent.

'But which path is right, ultimately?' he wondered. 'One can only know when a path is followed to completion. Perhaps it is inevitable after all...but I thank you all for coming here, and trying so hard to save a world that is not your own. I thank you all for setting me free to walk to sleep. And who knows, perhaps I will wake to a new world. A better one.'

'I don't understand,' Tomoki whispered.

'No?' the angel smiled gently, even as his data began to crumble, and he looked as though he had aged and become more transparent in the minutes they had talked. 'Nor do I. Nor, I think, does anyone. I govern law and order. This world is in chaos; some have accepted the fate of rebirth, others are fighting and being forced to take that hand. Who now can take this and turn it into order? But with death, rebirth begins. That is perhaps now our last hope.'

Izumi covered her mouth. 'It can't be the end.'

'It is not,' Seraphimon reassured. 'It is only a new beginning. When a programmed is scrambled beyond repair, you scrap and rebuild it, taking the essential elements. But at the same time, is it right to simply give up on the failing world and not see the hope it carries within itself? One has to wonder...'

'So...what is the right thing to do?' Junpei asked. 'You're going back and forward.'

'As do most wherein the decision lies. In such cases, the answer generally presents itself in time. One action sets a world into motion. Possibility becomes certainty. One must simply be willing to change their way should the need arise. Prophecies tell the coming of the vulture of death heralds the end, and most digimon believe in such prophecies. It is humans that grudge fate its word. But prophecy also claims the legendary warriors will save _this_ world, so the interpretations can get confusing. And end is certainly coming, but what end depends entirely on what will happen next. Heart is the final say in all matters such as these.'

'Heart?' Takuya asked, looking between the angel and his own chest, one hand creeping up to touch the fabric that rested there. He smiled slightly. 'We know it better now.'

The others nodded.

'Seraphimon?' Izumi asked. 'Do you know why we were brought here?'

'The legendary warriors always come at times of need, whether that be to clear the way or to fight depends on the circumstances. They must have called out for a force stronger than we can offer, and you children answered that call. The spirits are beyond this world...and yet even they have fallen, for I feel some missing. Which?'

'The human spirit of ice, and the beast spirits of fire, wind and thunder,' Bokomon replied, quickly looking them up.

'It makes you think, that perhaps-' He broke off, as his head too crumbled along with the rest of him.

Izumi took in a sharp breath, staring at the dust that remained from one of the world's leaders.

'What do we make of that?' Junpei wondered.

'Honestly, I have no idea.' Takuya stared at all that remained of the Great Angel. 'Perhaps he's right. We follow our heart, and sooner or later, the right path will be presented to us.'

* * *

'Tell me, why do you believe him when you know he's wrong?' KKouichi breathed, his oesophagus restricting as Wolfmon tightened his grip on him while simultaneously restraining him against the tree he had backed up against. 'You _know_, you've felt something wrong.'

'He's not wrong,' the other hissed, anger and denial blinding him. 'You are.'

'Then what are you fighting me for? Why fight me when you know you are right and I am wrong?'

He froze at the question. Why was he fighting? Was he really as sure as he tried to convince himself, or was his doubt leading him in the other direction?

'Don't tell me you've never felt anything missing,' Kouichi continued. 'You have, no matter how much you try to deny it to yourself. But if you will continue to deny it, if you can be sure beyond a shadow of doubt that I am an enemy aspiring towards your defeat, then why not stop me while you have the chance?'

The hand retracted. 'It's against my code,' the wolf-hybrid growled. 'It's dishonourable to attack someone when they're helpless to defend themselves.'

'It's more than that. But if you don't believe me, fine.' His hands clenched at his sides as the other released his grip enough for him to slide to the ground, miniscule tears forming on the surface of the blue irises. 'Just walk away; I won't follow you again. But visit my mother. Please. Visit a woman who needs more than what she has can provide for her. You can't deny that.'

Kouji stepped back, releasing his quarry from his hold. 'Fine.'

And then the last rays of sunshine faded, and each ceased to exist in the peripheral view of the other.


	13. The Titans Clash

**Author's Notes**

I've accidently used the English name for Ophanimon (Jap. Is Ofanimon), so I'll be consistent and stick to that for the rest of the story.

To my knowledge, Ophanimon's castle wasn't named anything other than that, while Cherubimon's had a cool name, the Venus Rose (aka. Rose Morning Star in the Dub). As Venus is the Roman goddess of love and is also associated with desire, vibrancy and a truck load of other things, I've named Ophanimon's castle after another Roman God, whose name is Ceres. Ceres is the goddess of agriculture, crops, fertility and motherly relationships. I've said Pastor, as it refers to agriculture and crops and the like, and there are all of those white blossoms around, while Cherubimon's landscape is rather barren. A rose is beautiful, but deadly; 'grotesque rose' in reference to Daisy Buchanan nee Fay in The Great Gatsby. A pastor lacks the glamour and vibrancy, but at the same time lacks the paradox that inevitably comes with that sort of thing. So the Venus Rose vs. the Ceres Pastor.

I don't spend much time on the fight because that's not really the point. 'sides, how long can you explain it before it gets totally redundant and you miss the point?

As for the end, the steel cloak is a bit of a figurative thing. Remember, Kouichi isn't physically in the Digital World, but the others are. As part of Kouichi is still in the real world, his innate instinct (such as the will to survive above all else, etc.) are not as strong in the Digital World as they are for the other. The prospect of death and suicide, even so abstractly, is rather strong, enough to form a sort of physical resistance through a medium. Kouichi, having that split, doesn't have such an inhibition, which can act as a curse and a blessing, because he can go further with less limitations, but he is also far more vulnerable. In addition, the fact that he is not solidly in one place sort of splits his personality; he wouldn't have even let BlackTailmon get that close to him if he had been in the real world, let along attack for revenge. More likely, like with his father, he would have just let that bitterness and hurt stew.

More allusions to the real enemy in the next chapter.

And remember the baby digimon who was calling Kouichi his 'Papa'? He's back in this one, with a digivolving sequence of his own.

**Chapters remaining after this: **3

**Up next:** When the Blind Eyes Open: The world's fate has been set in stone...one world anyway. But loose ends are still floating around, and it's time to tie them up. And there's a demon that needs to have her butt kicked, which Takuya is more than happy to oblige to.

Enjoy.

* * *

**Butterflies' Flight**

AU. Like butterflies, they followed the flame, drawn to his light, despite that fact that following so blindly could potentially lead to corruption. And yet they shy away from the dark, the one thing that may save them yet...

Takuya K & Kouichi K

* * *

**Chapter 12 – The Titans Clash**

Kouji was many things. But at that moment, he was really only two. Forget the warrior of light. Forget the antisocial lone wolf. All he was right then was lost and alone.

He was lost in two definitions. Physically, seeing as he had blindly rushed after his quarry, and then afterwards wandered aimlessly and with no purpose at all, which coincidently lead to the fact that he had no idea where he was, geographically speaking. And confused, as rationale took over from instinct's bitter lash, and the sense of what the other had said began to waver the unbitten trust that existed between father and son, stretched though as it had been after his remarriage.

Somehow, his thoughts kept on drawing back to the TV Forest. Where he had seen his mother working in a small, meagre kitchen; a real-time image. Bokomon had explained that those mirrors showed what was happening in their world at that exact moment in time, but the Bakemon had driven out of his mind the question of how his mother could be there, alive, when she had died years ago? And then he had forgotten, in the midst of his beast spirit and the lessons he had learnt.

But now...it was unexplainable proof. Unless Bokomon happened to be wrong. Which was unlikely; he was carrying the book with all the Digital World's knowledge in it...unless he was lying too.

He shook his head. There were too many questions.

He would have continued wondering, lost in them, if he hadn't just walked into Junpei's back, said boy who shot about a foot in the air before noticing the sudden addition.

'Kouji!' Izumi gasped, recovering from the sudden fright herself. 'Don't surprise us like that.'

'Sorry,' he muttered, though his thoughts were still mostly cut off anywhere. 'I was thinking.'

Tomoki blinked up at him. 'Do you want to talk about it?'

A little surprised, but touched at the gesture, he shook his head.

'Well...' Takuya paused, before shrugging. 'Don't think too long buddy.' He looked as though he was going to say something more, before diving out of the way suddenly as he spotted a flaming fireball.

Following his lead, the others moved too, as the unexpected spectacle faded to show a cloaked digimon.

'Baromon?' Bokomon said, almost questionably, in surprise. 'What reason do you have to leave your home on the mountains of the Dark Continent?'

'A prophecy,' the prophet replied, nodding his head to the gnome in a sort of familiar greeting; the two had been schooled together by the same master at a time after all. But as he turned his gaze upon the humans, he looked far from pleased. 'And a request.'

'From these humans?'

'Yes.'

He turned, red cloak billowing behind him as he descended into the tunnel he had uncovered by his previous attack. 'Follow me.'

'Should we follow someone who just tried to attack us?' Takuya whispered, before Bokomon glared at him.

'I just so happen to trust Baromon,' the gnome said stiffly. 'He's a famed historian in this world, and if he has travelled here to us to demand our attention, then it is imperative we give it to him.'

Takuya glanced at Izumi who was beside him, then shrugged. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, he hadn't noticed Kouji's scepticism behind him.

'This is the Digital World's tunnel of history,' Baromon's voice echoed up from the staircase that spiralled downwards. 'The world began with ten elements and ten different types of digimon...'

* * *

Unlike Kouji who had wandered aimlessly, Kouichi hadn't moved from his spot when he ran into company. Or more literally, company ran into him.

'Papa,' Pupumon cried, bouncing over to bury himself into his jacket. Out of reflex more than anything, seeing as his mind was, for the moment, completely numb, he raised a hand to absentmindedly stroke the other's shell. 'Papa sad.'

'I'm not sad,' he tried to reassure, but it just came out hollow and empty, even despite the fact that it wasn't a lie. He wasn't sad, not then. He was just numb.

'You are,' the baby digimon insisted, as inexperienced as he was with the world after an essential rebirth, having regressed into the innocence and life that had been lost in SkullBaluchimon. He contemplated a moment, before adding. 'Lost too.'

Well...that was true.

'I-I just don't know what to do anymore,' the boy sighed, hugging both the digimon and himself. 'Everything's so messed up. I just wanted to make my mother happy and get to know a brother I never had, but things just got so complicated.'

'But that's not why you're here, fighting,' the baby pointed out, squirming a little to prove his point. 'You're here because you have a big heart.' He drew out the 'big' with a grin. 'You could have just gone after your brother, but instead you've worked so hard to free a trapped world to make its choice to either prosper and grow or start over. And you're nearly there too. The only thing left is for all your humans to go home. The rest of the spirits will dissolve in the gate, and this world will no longer be locked by the security wall which held both inside and out, and then whatever choice the world makes will be of its own, without anything inhibiting it. And that's what you wanted for this world, isn't it?'

'Yes...' he blinked. 'But how do you know?'

Pupumon blinked, before shrugging as well as a head alone could do. 'It felt like I've swum in your head,' he giggled a bit, before sobering up. 'It's really sad and dark, but it's a good darkness, except for that little bit-' He shivered, and left the sentence hanging, before brightening suddenly. 'I know! I know! You need to go to Cherubimon-sama! I'll carry you. We'll fly! And then you all can go home...but I'll miss you.'

Tears bubbled for a moment, before brightening. 'I'll just go with you.' He nodded to himself. 'Let's go! Let's go! I need to be big and strong...and with wings too!'

As he bounced, data swirling as he grew bigger, residual data from his once ultimate form, and more shapely too. 'Puroromon!' he shouted, voice slightly deeper, before looking at himself. 'Nope, nope! Need to be bigger.'

And he evolved again, to something a cross between a fly and a bee. 'Funbeemon!'

He buzzed about the human, nudging him to his feet, before frowning at the sky, dark and gloomy even as the sun should have risen at least an hour ago. 'Hmm...haste is needed. Funbeemon, evolve. Waspmon.'

Quickly, the large wasp darted forward and seized the boy into his hold, rising rapidly into the air before striking the quickest air flight to the Dark Continent. The cyborg could sense the gates connecting the world's opening, the large net which interconnected the universe with everything within...and in the unstable and chaotic form the Digital World was in, a large scale clash now could risk destroying them all.

And the boy could sense it too, as he bit his lip in worry. 'The Gate is opening.'

'Yes it is,' the Adult confirmed. 'And Cherubimon and Ophanimon are both at the Dark Continent.'

For a moment, Kouichi processed that, forgetting everything else except the dire concequence that could arise. 'They could destroy the universe.'

'Yes,' the other buzzed, crossing into the earth continent. 'And not all are fated with the gift of rebirth like this one, a mere shadow above all else of your own. Perhaps nothing will survive if that happens; how can a shadow of something exist when that thing is nonexistent?'

'We have to stop them!' _But how can we? How could anyone stand against the power of two Celestial Digimon?_

'We'll be there in time to stop them.' _If we can._

* * *

'Let me get this straight,' Junpei said slowly. 'Lucemon's fight with the ancient warriors unbalanced the world, so when the Ancient Warrior of Light was killed and Darkness cursed into essentially death, the Digital World started unbalancing. Once it got to a certain point and Cherubimon decided that the best mode of action was to destroy the fail-safe, aka. the spirits of the legendary warriors, then reset the world, Ophanimon uses the power of the spirits to call us here to stop him. That other kid, Kouichi, somehow winds up here too-'

'He followed me,' Kouji muttered.

'Following Kouji...wait a sec. What?' He blinked, before shaking his head. 'Never mind. Cherubimon somehow enlists him and now the only spirits left are what we have here and the two of darkness. And now Cherubimon and Ophanimon are duking it out after crimes against their 'Chosen' and some sort of gate is opening and you want us to go home _now_?'

'Exactly right,' the prophet replied, face blank as always.

Takuya frowned. 'Sorry, not happening. We're not about to leave this world hanging out to dry like yesterday's washing. I think all of us have given too much to let it go. We'll do whatever we can to save this place.'

'You've already done everything you can here,' Baromon muttered, as the staircase began to spiral upwards again. 'You'd be foolish to just stay here and see how it ends. You're better off without that knowledge.'

'We're staying,' Izumi repeated. 'Besides, we can't leave Kouichi here.'

'Fools,' Baromon said again, before he was silenced by the sudden shaking and trembling that greeted them on the surface.

A sudden thunder cloud met them as well as the expanse they stood on, before being cut off as a flying javelin jabbed into Cherubimon's shoulder. The bunny retaliated with a thunder-fashioned spear, sending the javelin flying before Ophanimon flew up to catch, parrying the next blow that came her way, leaving the two angels locked in close combat before they sprang apart.

'Should we help her?' Tomoki whispered, dancing on his feet a little. 'She was the one who called us after all, but I don't think I want to get involved in that.'

'Me neither,' Junpei agreed, staring at the two Ultimates clashing. 'But I'm not sure I like just standing here.'

'Why don't you just listen to your heart?' Neemon asked, before Bokomon snapped his waistband. 'That will soft everything.'

'Don't be a fool,' Bokomon snapped. 'Things aren't that simple. Sometimes it's hard to see the right decision.'

Izumi was biting her lip worriedly. 'I feel like we should stop this, but how can we?'

'That's like trying to stop the tide,' the eldest of the group groaned, having come to the same conclusion himself. 'I feel like something's going to happen, but wha-woah!'

He shouted suddenly as a giant wasp landed beside them, dropping the shivering human in his hold. 'They've already done quite a bit of damage,' he noted, looking at Kouichi who was himself staring at the dug up landscape, then up at the sky, still black, though now it had faint streaks of lightning torn asunder. 'This is bad.'

The Waspmon buzzed a little after no-one said anything, before sinking to the ground in exhaustion from the rapid flight, regressing back to the child stage, then one further by the time Kouchi was worriedly hovering over him.

'I'm fine,' he reassured, his voice once more a child-like squeak. 'Just tired. But-'

He looked at the fighting Celestials, before two sets of eyes widened and the little digimon dove for a little crevice of cover, vanishing into the Tunnel of History as Neemon seemed tempted to run after him.

The sky above them was beginning to darken again. A different way though, as Cherubimon had thrown down his female counterpart and had now lifted both hands to the heavens, palms facing up as he summoned thunder on a grand scale.

Baromon, who had said nothing till that point, frowned. 'They could destroy the worlds,' he noted in an almost monotone, and not loud enough for the newcomer to hear, not the two fighting digimon, watching the female angel ready an attack of her own to fire into the apex. 'But they will be stopped.'

The others whipped around to stare, but found that they could do nothing as Baromon blocked the path before them with his cape, hardening to steel to easily hold them back lest they move.

Kouichi too was watching Ophanimon, biting his lip lightly as his mind fluttered about in a panic. Most of him was too preoccupied with this pressing problem to think about his badly-turned discussion with his twin, but a small part was still rather upset and bitter at the result. Perhaps he felt the reaction, though warranted, rather overkill considering the circumstances, or perhaps it was because, reason or no, they were responsible for the death of a friend that had gotten so close to his heart through no fault of her own. Despite that digimon were reborn, it still felt like murder. After all, some believed in reincarnation. To him, the concepts were the same.

But how in the world could they stop _that_...even if anyone else recognised the dangers.

But there wasn't any time. Ophanimon let loose her attack with a cry of 'Sefirot Crystals' while Cherubimon dropped his fists to earth with the call of 'Heaven's Judgement.'

_He had to act now!_

He had evolved without even thinking, whipping the D-scanner and begging them for help. He didn't even notice their forms shine and change as he dove straight into a beast spirit, forgetting the repercussions that had resulted from the last battle, forgetting doubt and inability...forgetting darkness, save as the only source of power he had at his disposal to save his world...and the others that existed without his knowledge.

As it was, all others watched a brave lion lined with gold jump between the attacks, black thunder crashing into his back as the crystals drove through his chest-plates...not the vulture that had brought the omen of death itself, but the knight in shining armour that had come to the rescue of worlds that had stood on the brink of a spiralling disaster.

Both stopped immediately, watching the boy devolve and collapse on the ground in a heap, body clearly struggling but easily loosing the will to keep living, keep breathing, keep moving...

Izumi let out a cry of shock and covered her mouth with her hands as she stared, Junpei beside her being quick to cover the eyes of their youngest members, as the other two froze, one unable to truly understand why this sight was affecting him more than he should (it was already more than anything else because this wasn't another digimon, this was a human blasted by a dual attack and grappling at life's threads) while the other felt now, stronger than his fickle streams easily overshadowed by doubt, that what he had told him had been the truth.

Too late, as the dark blue eyes rolled slightly to stare at him. For a moment, a torrent of emotions were present as them, as the boy who lay, lost to his own surroundings, struggled to maintain the last grips of his mind as something choked him. It was familiar, so familiar...then with a startling blow, he realised why. Just as he had gotten his spirit when he had first arrived, this dizzying sensation of stopper-breath, a mix of honey scented chlorofoam and a stifling, dirtied rag of hate, anger and wrath, threatened to firmly and finally clog his senses.

His brain reeled, but between the attack and the unstable form (despite his ignorance, his spirit _was_ stuck between two worlds), his soul found itself easily outmatched; at the weakest point of its existence. Darkness drowned into nothingness, and life left the eyes, giving the body (the assault of electricity had done little more than the smell of burning flesh, but the shrapnel had cut through the flesh, leaving red cuts that spewed out blood) the appearance of a broken, marionette doll.

That image persisted a long, ragged moment, before the ground beneath it cracked, throwing dust into the air as the alter the boy had rested on sank into the ground as the two halves, no longer held by a plate between that had once been a part of the whole, collapsed upon each other.

The black D-scanner which had tumbled out of the boy's pocket at some point, blinked and died, a mere plastic artefact upon a stretch of dry and motionless sand, and in the distance, under the purple translucence fading into the spreading black, the Venus Rose folded upon itself and collapsed as on the other side of the world, the Ceres Pastor upon the Continent of Light crumbled in like.


	14. When the Blind Eyes Open

**Author's Notes**

You may notice that there's something rather ironic about the confrontation towards the middle of this chapter. Phul is an Olympian spirit which rules over the moon, and is quoted to have provided the 'Spirits of Water.' Lilithmon is the demon lord of lust. Her planet is the moon, and her spirit is Phul. And yet she targeted the warrior of _fire_, which is antagonistic to water spirits she/he provides. Why him will be explained in the sequel...I think. It's not explicitly in the plan, so...yeah.

I know that scene's pretty pitiful in the grand scale of cool evil showdowns, but keep in mind those periods of 'enlightenment' that occurred throughout the story. Lilithmon was essentially drained of power, and that was just a last ditch effort overthrown with heart. It's actually more significant in the sequel.

By the way, the sequel is called **Achilles' Heel**, named after the term which alludes to the Greek legend about the heroic warrior Achilles whose mother tried to make him immortal by holding the infant by his heel and dipping him into the River Styx. Eventually he was killed by an arrow shot into his undipped heel. So the moral is even immortality is mortal. Ie. Everything can be defeated. I'll put the info up after the epilogue, but I might finish off some other stories before starting it.

**Chapters remaining after this: **2

**Up next:** It's over, or so they thought. But returning to the real world and reaching for the very one they had shied away from when in need, they find an ironic role reversal where their saviour is now the one in need of saving...and where blinded light is the only thing that can save him.

Enjoy.

* * *

**Butterflies' Flight**

AU. Like butterflies, they followed the flame, drawn to his light, despite that fact that following so blindly could potentially lead to corruption. And yet they shy away from the dark, the one thing that may save them yet...

Takuya K & Kouichi K

* * *

**Chapter 13 – When the Blind Eyes Open**

No-body said anything for the longest while, save the little baby digimon who now tethered on the edge of the abyss, barely held back by Baromon's cape and sobbing for his 'father', the one consistent being in his utterly fragmented life.

The great female angel bowed her head, before tilting it up to look at the sky. 'How could we have forgotten...' she whispered, voice still as majestic as it ever was but nothing like the biting command that had previously laced. Now it simply sounded humbled, soft...but not as such as defeat. Rather, as though the world had come to an unspoken compromise, letting what they should have done at the beginning come about, before ideals and conflicting views had warped the noble cause. 'The gate always opens at the eclipse. It is a time where the balance of the universe is at its most vulnerable. We could have destroyed everything...save perhaps ourselves.'

'We are already destroyed,' Cherubimon amended, looking at the sand vanishing as though a low tide was running over it. 'I can see your petals in the distance.'

Ophanimon looked in the direction and sighted them too, the white blossoms riding the wind and heralding the approach of rebirth. '"_As the snow white blossoms scatter in the wind, the page turns and the world begins anew..._"' she quoted, before looking again at the split ground. 'I stand for life, but not this.'

'Nor do I,' the other responded. 'But no permanent death has resulted from this.'

That caused everyone's heads to shoot up in surprise, including the refined angel who for a moment looked rather comical.

'Is it possible for a human to be reborn like a digimon in this world?' Bokomon asked, torn between gaining knowledge and attempting rather hopelessly to reserve tact.

'No, it is not-'

The hope dropped, until the next statement left them in utter confusion.

'But he was not truly in this world, and that may have saved him.'

Ophanimon looked at him. 'What do you mean? He came on the Trailmon's I call-' She paused, realising that he hadn't. 'I hadn't even contacted him.'

'No,' the beast-angel affirmed. 'Nor did anyone else. His body and spirit were somehow split, and the spirits of darkness sought him on the spiritual plane and from there I drew him into this one. Perhaps I had underestimated him in doing so; he surpassed all expectation, controlling and purifying spirits that held an unrelenting curse that ran centuries old. In any case, his body is not here, the physical form came from the spirits, so it is possible that his spirit, broken free from this world, will simply reunite with his body, but there is also the chance that he will wonder elsewhere too.'

He looked at the children, none of whom had said a world. 'I do not know much about human ways,' he said to them, something akin to remorse in his voice. 'But I do know the purity and the bonds between children like yourselves is more powerful than you can imagine.'

'That is why the spirits called out to you across barriers,' Ophanimon continued in the same tone, up to speed now after having attained the missing piece of information. 'The six of you share a bond, and people in what you call a coma have been drawn out from such bonds before. There is still hope yet. In fact...' She looked up at the vortex swirling, before smiling. 'Time passes differently between fragments of space. 'The six of you _will_ reunite.'

Four of the six were simply relieved, if nothing more, that a childish game not had not cost a life of someone chained into its proceedings, but for two, it was something more. Kouji could scarcely believe it all, but it seemed the plague had vanished by the sledgehammer blow. Another opportunity for everything: a life, a brother, another mother...and he knew that this time, he wasn't going to waste any of it. For Takuya, suddenly flooded with memories he had pushed away, was faced with the consequences of the average child/teenager reaction that persisted with a loss of face. From there, there was only restoration, and apologies to bring that about.

'You must now return.' That was Baromon, though they could no longer see him, nor anything else save the other humans. 'Or you will be lost.'

Nothing else was said. Goodbyes, if they were thought, vanished into a void, around which white petals swirled around them, stealing the last of their consciousness.

Ophanimon and Cherubimon looked at each other as the seal was finally released. The world had made its choice, and they had to respect that.

* * *

_Takuya awoke to find himself surrounded in green, which he found rather strange. Not only did the colour clash horribly with his choice of attire, but it simply wasn't a colour that he liked in all retrospect. It seemed too calm, too tranquil...too needy of something to brighten the flat mundane and to sate the envious desire._

_What was odder was, when he looked down, he found the earth barely in sight, and a fine green sawdust upon what he stood on. On the other side, he could spy the sin blazing, but as if through a shroud, little, if any, heat penetrated. And that left him almost frozen. Ironically though, he was not cold._

_Where was he? Why was he here? The questions fluttered through his mind, before fading into the numbing cold, when he noted it really didn't matter._

_What he been doing before this? What was he about to do? Try as he may, he couldn't seem to remember. As if there had never been a past nor future, nothing, save this green haze, and something...or someone else._

_Was there anyone? For a moment, it had felt like that, but...no longer. Alone, content...no, never content, always wanting, always needing._

_ 'You remember,' a voice crooned in his ear. 'Loosing the things you valued when wanting them, and wanting more. Loosing the full attention of your parents when they had a second child, then once more as their time went to arguing and disagreeing with each other. But you wanted all their love, more than they gave you, more than they had ever, because you knew how it was before and it wasn't, even then, what you deserved. Because they had always wanted a second child, didn't they? More valuable than the first...and not like you.'_

_Something caressed his cheek gently. 'You were friendly with everyone, because you wanted them to bond with you. But they always took advantage of your friendship, even as you wanted theirs in return. It wasn't fair, was it?'_

_He remembered as the female voice softly treaded upon tender realms. And he agreed. No, it wasn't fair._

_ 'And when you found a friend, you lost him...but you deserved better than him anyway. You deserved more.'_

_Something was tickling his consciousness, telling him something was wrong. Once a time, he may have ignored him, but as though a lesson had been graved deep inside, he did neither but rather focused hard, trying to find the untied seam that was threatening to rip apart the entire network._

_ 'Don't you still want it?' the voice crooned again, wavering as if it was about to cry in a summed distress, and suddenly he was warm, tingly, but not content, never content, in the embrace of someone, sharp manicure nails caressing his face in a way that they seemed soft and gentle. 'I can give you that. All of it, and more...'_

_The sentence trailed off with a sigh, as something suddenly occurred to him._

_ 'I have friends...'_

_ 'What friends?' the woman asked him. 'No-one is here, except when I found you.'_

_ 'No-one?' his voice sounded almost vulnerable, but something was still bugging him._

_ 'No-one,' the woman affirmed._

_The brunette looked down, suddenly finding himself uncomfortable._

_ 'Not content?' the woman asked him. 'No, never...how else will you grow, experience..?'_

_Content. Somehow, she said it as though it was something dirty, something to be distasted, but something conflicted, because hadn't she just alluded that everything should be desired?_

_Then it suddenly clicked, and he ripped himself from her hold._

_ 'Liar!' he shouted. 'I'm happy with what I have. I'm the one who pushed my parents and my little brother away. Sure, I got less attention from my parents, but they had Shinya to take care of too, and I had _his_ attention, and all their love, but I did nothing with it. And at school...I just hadn't met the right people is all. I've got great friends now, and nothing is going to separate us.'_

_ 'Poor, deluded child,' the woman continued to croon, gathering up her purple skirt and gesturing the other to join her lap once more. A manicured hand stretched out to him, but now it looked almost threatening as the fog was lifting. 'What you imagine as this fantasy are the lies...'_

_His heart said otherwise._

_ 'They're not.'_

_ 'No?' Her face suddenly confronted into rage, the dark mascara on her face making her look rather threatening suddenly. 'You are a weak-minded fool who would sooner return to the uselessness of what you call virtue-' She practically spat that last word like venom. 'Instead of embracing the necessity of your body and soul. No human is ever free of want. Ever!'_

_ 'I never said I was!' the other shouted back, a strange yet familiar fire burning within. 'And I never said I wouldn't try to get it, but you're asking for something else!'_

_Her voice suddenly melted into honey again. 'What is you think I ask?' she crooned. 'I simply want your desires fulfilled. That is why I am here.'_

_ 'By taking what I have away?' The brunette shook his head. 'Sorry, not happening.'_

_ 'They are hindrances.'_

_ 'They are a part of me!'_

_The woman scowled, looking rather ugly again. 'You were far more compiling earlier,' she snarled. 'You drown in delusions, but I will rectify that now.'_

_She lunged at him suddenly, grabbing both wrists tightly in her hold, before forcing her lips upon his._

_ 'Feel the love of darkness,' she whispered. 'Feel the force that saved you these ears, and then tell me what you prefer.'_

_His knees suddenly felt weak as white started to consume his vision, but suddenly, voices were shouting at him, _to_ him, and blackness seeped in again._

_This time, he welcomed it, using the sanctuary as a barrier as he shoved the woman away._

_She shrieked, and tried to long for him again, but suddenly, other things stood in his way. People he recognised. People he didn't. And other things; a soccer ball, a video console...and even his spirits: Agunimon, Vritramon and one who looked like a hybrid of them, all holding her back._

_She shrieked again, but she had been weak before...to weak. Fire surged within him as he pushed her further, engulfing the green..._

_And then suddenly a symbol with five points, four of which pointed upwards in vain, glowed with a bright fire which could personify evil itself._

_And then that too was gone, and darkness beckoned him to rest._

_Subtlety had failed the demon as he had broken free unknowingly. And now, she had failed again._

_The memory faded too...but it still existed, waiting to be called upon when its need arose. And the memories shoved aside shared that honour, preserved now...and forever._

* * *

'Takuya! Hey, Takuya! Wake up!'

'I'm awake, I'm awake,' the addressed said hurriedly, having opened his eyes to find Izumi about to slap him.

She saw his look, blushed, then turned away, as Junpei gave Kouji an odd look. 'That was the perfect opportunity to make some stupid joke,' he pointed out. 'Plenty of stimuli.'

'Not in the mood,' the other muttered, before returning to his brooding silence, having told his tale while the last slept and regressed back to the silent state of depressing thought.

Takuya blinked, before sitting up, finding that they were back in the underground of Shibuya station.

'I'm sorry,' he said suddenly, the apology rising to his lips before he even knew what it was for.

The others all stared at him, as he rearranged his thoughts into some more coherence and then continued. 'I was wrong and you guys still followed me. I guess it was just hard for me to let go of things...anything really.' He snorted to himself. 'Keep the past and go forward. Doesn't work like that.'

'Why not?' the pseudo-Italian asked shrewdly. 'Have you tried?'

'Well...no, not really.'

She gave him a stern look. 'Don't talk before you try,' she lectured. 'And don't get you ego so inflated. We followed because we _wanted_ to follow you.' She looked at the others for a moment. 'I don't know about you guys, but I think I needed someone calling the shots.'

Junpei and Tomoki both nodded, while Kouji made a funny sort of shrug.

'What's with you?' Takuya asked.

'That's what happen when you sleep longer than us,' Izumi glared good-naturedly. 'Who's explaining to this idiot?'

The silence that greeted her told it all.

* * *

They rode the elevator to the surface, unsure of where to go. But the second they stepped out, they found chaos. Huddles of people, chatting about a boy who had taken a spill there, a staircase barricaded off as a worker was interrogated by a police officer, and a blue hat sitting at the bottom of the said stairs that was familiar to the two of them.

Suddenly, the chaos vanished as a boy, stoic and cold, walked into an elevator shaft and stood, watching the doors close as another dove in and a third crashed into the closed doors...just that little too late.

The boy with the cap, now identified to them all, banged on the doors in a slight desperation, before turning to look at the levels passing, then at the stairs to the side that could get him there.

And then he was running for them, on them, trying frantically to catch someone before he lost him again...and then a slight misstep, and he was falling.

A sprawled form lying on the stairs, a name fading from his lips with his consciousness as onlookers watched agape...and then there was a barrier enclosing the area where he had fallen...and nothing save a slight blotch of pale blood on white tiles, there at all.

Kouji turned white on the spot, and an outsider would have found it hard to believe that barely a few hours ago, he had not even known he had a brother as he ran frantically through the crowd and the barricade, demanding information.

It only took a few minutes from there to get to the care centre, passing a clock that reported the time only ten minutes past six. It registered to them; time had barely passed in the months they had spent away, and that was a mixture of relief and annoyance (it would have helped if they had known their parents weren't worried sick about them) as they finally made it to their destination.

Only to be stopped at the door by a security guard.

'No-one is allowed into the resuscitation rooms,' he said sternly, catching Kouji around the waist.

'That's my brother,' the other pleaded, on the verge of begging, something he never thought to have done for anyone...but that was before five people had touched his heart in different ways. And he knew, without a doubt, that even if that boy hadn't been his brother, he would still be trying to reach him, after all the chaos thrown and clashed, because that was simply the bond formed in the end, when one could sit and think about it and look past the subtleties to the deeper nuances.

'No-one is allowed into the resuscitation rooms,' the guard repeated.

'Please,' he begged again, voice wavering as the start of tears began at one possibility, no doubt the likelier one. 'My brother, I need to know...if he-'

The guard looked at him, before scrolling something onto a page, receiving a reply a moment later. 'He'll live,' he said. 'But it was a close call. Anything else, they're still examining.'

Kouji nodded and turned away. There was nothing else to be done then. Except fix things elsewhere.

'Let's go home.'

He nodded. 'Yeah, lets.'

He felt a small hand slip into his hold. 'We'll come visit tomorrow,' he piped up. 'As soon as school finishes, we'll come.'

He couldn't help but return the small smile that graced the other's face.

And suddenly, everyone was talking at once, heart lighter than they ever remembered.

* * *

Walking out of that care centre was one of the hardest things he had ever done. Even if he planned to return. Even if he was alive. Even if they were essentially useless...but he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep without knowing for sure that Kouichi, his brother, would be okay.

Somehow, it all seemed like his fault. Even if the others had already berated him for it. He supposed that would pass in time, much like the guilt over BlackTailmon and Kouichi's own over his loss of control and rampage as Velgmon, as well as Takuya's similar rampage as Vritramon. Time healed all wounds after all, but scars remained even then.

They were almost at the exit when he froze, seeing a very familiar woman conversing with a doctor in a panic. She happened to look up at the same moment, meeting his eyes, still worried, but now placated with the knowledge that everything was okay, but then something else came in them as she recognised the midnight blue that mirrored her own, and before anyone was really aware of what was happening, Kouji was experiencing the first hug he remembered from his first mother.

'Kouji,' she breathed into his hair. 'I thought I'd never see you again. And you've grown so much.' She took a deep, shaky breath, before continuing. 'I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.'

The others, suddenly feeling rather awkward, decided to take their leave.

* * *

'I'm home,' Takuya called, unlocking the front door and slipping through, toeing off his shoes before hearing the half-hearted clatter of his little brother playing on the floor. Blinking as he heard no noise from his mother, he walked into the living room to find Shinya attempting to connect a 3D car puzzle together...with little success.

Smiling now, he took the pieces from his brother's unenthusiastic hold, clicking them together with ease (it was originally his after all), having the model car built up in minutes.

'Here you go,' he said cheerfully, handing the toy over.

Shinya blinked, before staring carefully at his brother. 'Where did you go?' he asked. 'Did you fall asleep and have one of those ep-epif...aargh, how do you say it?'

'Epiphany?' Takuya suggested, remembering the word when Kouichi had mentioned it about a year ago.

'Yeah, that.' The younger Kanbara blinked up at the elder, now acting like the brother he loved (and sometimes annoyed to dead). 'Or did you go to outer space and meet aliens?'

'Uuh...would you believe me if I told you the second one was mostly true?'

Shinya blinked again. 'Yeah...I would,' he said finally. 'Because it brought my Onii-chan back.'

'Oh Shinya...' And he hugged his little brother tight.

'Ack, you're choking me!'

'Don't exaggerate.'


	15. Darkness Falling

**Author's Notes**

A person is supposed to cross the Sanzu seven days after death, but death itself isn't very specific. For the purposes of this story, I've taken it to be the cremation, where all earthly ties to the body are cut (as there are some instances where the dead come back to life, though can't do with no body to go back to).

**Chapters remaining after this: **1

**Up next:** They've passed the level, and now it's time to hop on to the next stage. But it's not necessarily one they expected. But not all stories have a beginning and an end.

Enjoy.

* * *

**Butterflies' Flight**

AU. Like butterflies, they followed the flame, drawn to his light, despite that fact that following so blindly could potentially lead to corruption. And yet they shy away from the dark, the one thing that may save them yet...

Takuya K & Kouichi K

* * *

**Chapter 14 – Darkness Falling**

It was rather odd, that despite all the coincidental meetings in the Digital World, they, Ophanimon's warriors that is, had yet to see head or tail of the final human who had entered that world, save Kouji who had seen his brother when their families converged for a joint conference, where truths were told and lies eradicated...and that was a strangely silent affair on his part at that. Not that they hadn't tried, but it appeared that neither mother nor son were home often as the phone generally went unanswered, and it appeared that he too had changed schools not long after Takuya himself...and the new one was impossible to find someone in.

It could have been purely coincidental, but Kouji especially got the feeling his newfound brother was avoiding them all. It turned out he was both wrong and right, as he (and he had no idea how, as he hadn't been actively looking for the other at that particular instance in time) found himself almost crashing right in to Kouichi, arms laden with apples for Satomi's apple pie.

Kouji suddenly felt extremely awkward. Now he understood how hard it was for the other to approach him like he had.

However, that problem soon vanished as he noted something odd about the other's eyes.

They weren't exactly identical, so there would obviously be some differences in appearance. His eyes were lighter, sharper, and the blue more pronounced. Kouichi's, from the digital world, he remembered were sort of reminiscent of the night sky, intertwined blue and black, and sparkling with some inner depth. They told a story, whether swimming with a multitude of emotions, straining for control, or simply seeking some meaning beyond the raw outer surface.

The eyes staring at him then were not like that. They were more murky, almost completely black, and most importantly, the ever present spark of life was lacking. Beyond them was nothing; two black holes which spiralled into a never ending dark void.

That instantly caused warning bells to go off in his head, especially since Ari beside him began to growl menacingly, and he took a step forward to make sure the other didn't slip past.

'Ni-san-' he began hesitantly, not knowing whether he should even be using the word first of all, and doubtful that it applied in the particular instance. But the confusion didn't last long; the boy in front of him cleared it up.

'If you're talking about your _dear_ older brother, I'm not him,' he said darkly. 'But I would have thought you'd realise that.'

Kouji's eyes arrowed almost threateningly. 'Who are you and what did you do with Kouichi?'

'I didn't do anything,' the boy answered in reverse order, looking visibly annoyed, an emotion that, to be honest, didn't belong on the face it graced. 'As for who I am...in the Digital World, I am known as Daemon, but here, I am simply...Wrath.'

'Wrath?' his eyes widened. 'The 'seven deadly sins' wrath?'

'You ask too many questions,' the other bit back. 'But thank you.'

Kouji couldn't help but stare at the sudden tangent.

'Thank you for clearing the path for a body and life,' the sin clarified. 'The loss of one life is easily balanced for the gain of another's.'

'He's not dead.'

The almost black eyes narrowed. 'You humans can certainly be fools at times. Innately selfish, yet fools till the end. Why bother with fealty and sacrifice; they are fools errands to the end. Chaos always rules, sin always exist. And yet you always attempt to battle the tide and fight the inevitable.' He closed his eyes at that point. 'But it is rather entertaining to watch you all ruin your world. Things don't go your way, you anger. Anger churns hatred, combine they form wrath. Me. Fools.'

'Fools that you owe your life too,' the younger twin pointed out, keeping his expression cold and hard.

'Perhaps,' the other agreed, opening his eyes again to fixate the other with a hard glare. 'But your interference in particular rather annoys me. Either deal with the fact that your brother _is_ dead or I'll deal with you.'

'And if I do?'

'Then watch the world self-destruct from your "humane" ways,' the boy shrugged, slipping past the other before the discussion could further continue, Ari snarling still but making no move to leave his master's side, whether that be for fear or protectiveness was anyone's guess.

As soon as Kouji got his head on partially straight, he whipped out his cellphone to speed dial the other warriors.

* * *

'Shinya, can you hurry up?' Takuya called up the stairs, having been waiting impatiently for the last ten minutes as his younger brother attempted to extract the soccer ball from what he called his 'room'. The mess made the claim a little questionable though; his room was neater (now).

'Coming,' the younger Kanbara yelled, and Takuya got back to tapping his foot against the stair. At least, until the phone rang.

'Kanbara residence,' he said into the receiver.

/Takuya, something-/

'Kouji?' he, a tad unwisely, interrupted.

/This is important,/ the other snapped.

Noting the seriousness and urgency of the tone, Takuya quickly turned to seriousness. 'What is it?'

There was a deep breath on the other side, then: /I saw Kouichi today./

The brunette's brow furrowed. The statement really didn't match up with the tone. 'So what's wrong? He's not sick or hurt or anything.'

/He-/ There was another shaking breath. /It wasn't him./

'What?'

/I-It was him...but it wasn't./ The warrior of light's tone sounded rather flustered as he attempted to explain. /I mean, it was his body and all, but it was like, I dunno, different than the beast spirits...as if he's not in there at all. As if he's _dead_./ His voice choked on the last word.

Takuya blinked, before processing that information. 'So you're saying his body is being possessed by something that's _not_ one of the spirits? Are you sure you're not-?'

/He talked to me,/ the other shot back. /I _know_ that's not Kouichi. The image is just...wrong. Ari was growling too./

'Maybe he was having an off day?' the other suggested, list thinning rapidly. 'And Ari hasn't met him.'

'Then explain why he didn't growl when he was following me around before the Digital World.'

'...oh.' Takuya bit his lip lightly in thought. 'What did he say then.'

/You believe me?/ The tone seemed torn between desperation and incredulity.

'You'd know best,' the other shrugged, forgetting momentarily that Kouji couldn't see him. 'If you're sure, then what's not to believe? So what did he say?'

There was a pause, before Kouji replied.

/He called himself wrath. And he talked about chaos and the world self-destructing because of human selfishness and stuff, and also how foolish it was to...sacrifice oneself for others, and-/

'And?' Takuya prompted, choosing to ignore the obvious jibe towards their friend and his brother.

/He said he was dead./ He said it rather badly too: dead, defeated.

'And you believe that?'

There was a longer silence after that, in which Shinya, realising his brother was in the middle of a very important discussion, waited patiently on the middle stair, before Kouji finally answered with a soft 'no'.

'Well, there's your answer then,' he said. 'Remember what Cherubimon and Ophanimon said?'

/Yeah.../ It was a bit of a rhetorical question, so required no more detail.

In any case, something new had occurred to Takuya. 'Hey, did you say 'wrath'?'

/Uh huh. From the seven deadly sins./

'Sins huh...Is lust one?'

/It is. Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Greed and Sloth are the other five...wait a sec, how do you know? I didn't think that kind of thing would interest you./

'It doesn't, but it was about that weird dream when I passed out in-hold on, what if it wasn't a dream?' Without waiting for a reply, he pressed on. 'When I passed out in the gate, coming back, I had this dream about a lady that felt like lust, and somehow I burnt her to death. She was a digimon...I think. She sort of looked like one.'

/This one called himself Daemon. You think they're related./

'Could be.'

/Lucemon represented pride; Bokomon mentioned it at some point./

'Well, we all know what happened to him. So does that mean we're fighting sins that originate from our world in other forms?'

/...hold on. You said you burnt lust. How?/

'...yelled at her to be honest. She was telling me all about how I needed everything but I didn't need you guys. I argued. All these people showed up and set her on fire.'

/...you suck at telling stories. But that won't work this time. No soul./

'The elements defeated pride, right? The Ancient Ten legend.'

/That might work...but no spirits, and there's no water, wood, earth or metal./

'You know, maybe you don't need _people_ representing them. The ten continents of the Digital World maintained balance too right? Maybe it's just that fact that they exist in relatively equal proportions, in terms of importance anyway, except light and darkness which are absolute...or am I completely off kilter?'

/You're close enough./ Kouji sounded a little amused, but still underlining. /Nothing can be said to be absolute. But if everything was perfectly balanced, we wouldn't have this problem, would we?/

'No, that's not what I was saying.' Takuya shook his head, again forgetting the other couldn't see him. 'I got a little off topic. This is going to sound utterly ridiculous, but only one soul can exist in one body...right?'

/...right./

'So, if we kick this "wrath's" butt...'

Another pregnant pause.

/That's too risky,/ he said finally, tone flat.

'Haven't you read the Cheerleaders series by R.L Stine? The Japanese translations anyway...my English sucks.'

/No, I don't read girly novels./

'It's a horror series for your information. There's this thing called the evil that goes around possessing people, and they manage to seal it away by drowning the person who it was possessing. The person survived though, all three times that happened...well, I think it was three.'

/Do you ever draw boundaries between fact and fiction?/

'When it comes to the Digital world...no, not really. Izumi said that her beast spirit was named after some God of wind...south, I think. Bokomon mentioned that in the TV forest. And Lucemon...Lucifer? Ophan? Cherub? Wolf? Fairy? A lot of the names relate to things in our world, some of which are myth and fiction. And Bokomon the digimon themselves seem to reflect things in our world. The stages resembling human life, the vulture symbolising death,-'

/A symbol of Norse mythology. I get you. Fairies exist only in fiction. Then there's the warrior of water: a water nymph. Again, fiction./

'So, it's likely.'

/Except we're in the human world now Takuya. Things are different here./

'...drat. I forgot about that. But...maybe we can kick the guys butt without hurting Kouichi.'

/Sure, when the world goes flat,/ came the sarcastic reply. /Its hope-/

'Don't you _dare_ say it's hopeless! Nothing ever is. We'll find a way. I'll call the others.'

There was one last pause, the longest one.

/Thanks./

'No problem.'

* * *

'I thought all this was over,' Izumi moaned, burying her face into her hands. 'How does that even work anyway?'

Surprisingly (for Kouji anyway), no-one had doubted his story, once they were sure he wasn't overreacting. And even more surprisingly, only Junpei doubted Takuya's hare-brained suggestion...besides Kouji that is.

'Do you think that attack really did-'

'Don't say it,' Takuya cut the youngest member off quickly, half-glancing at the silent warrior of light beside him, leaning against a whole part of the railing. They had chosen to meet near the construction, where a part of the bridge railing had fallen away in a motor accident had had yet to be built...so people tended to steer away from the potential danger zone.

'I thought of something else actually,' Junpei admitted from his own perch. 'Isn't the soul weakest at the point of death? Religiously speaking I mean.'

'Yeah...' Tomoki said slowly. 'So...?'

'So it would be rather easy to...um, displace one when they're on the brink of death, so to speak. Like a substitution reaction.'

Blank stares greeted him.

'Okay, too advanced chemistry. But it would be easy to remove something when it doesn't stick as well and put something else there, right?'

'Right...'

'So can't the reverse work as well? I mean, if the connection is weak enough again. Spirits go to the Sanzu before crossing over when the body's cremated, so if the body's not cremated...'

'...the soul's still on this side of the river?'

'Where exactly are you going with this?' Takuya asked.

'I was just thinking that weakening wrath might be enough.'

'And how exactly do we do that?' Kouji asked, speaking for the first time since his conversation with Takuya earlier.

'Umm...talk?' Evidently, he hadn't thought that far.

'Reasoning with a sin?' the blonde sounded sceptical. 'This is starting to resemble the boisterous and not wholly intelligent protagonists in several anime.'

'Like?'

'Yu Gi Oh GX. Yuki Judai trying to reason with the light of ruin.'

The five looked at each other, then sighed as one. 'So we're marginally better off than we were hours ago,' Tomoki groaned. 'I don't like this.'

'Then don't interfere where you shouldn't,' an unexpected voice interjected, the new arrival having gone unnoticed.

Kouji jumped rather badly, but the others managed to tame their surprise at the appearance of what should have been their sixth member. Only, they could now see the eyes that didn't match with the ones they had seen in the Digital World, even when undiluted rage had lurked in them.

'Haven't you heard the phrase "wrath persists beyond death",' he said flatly. 'You're wasting your time, and I believe I asked one of you specifically to not interfere.'

The cold, hard eyes bore into Kouji's own.

'Like hell we'll listen to you,' Takuya snapped. 'You evil-'

'Evil,' the other snorted. 'Another fallibility of you humans; despite your potential, you appear to be all so narrow minded. How would you define good and evil? How do you distinguish between them? The only thing that could be said for sure in reply is that the answers to those questions differ from one individual to another. But when it comes to absolute goodness and absolute evil, it cannot be said that any individual, be that human, digimon or some other life form, is inherently, and totally, one or the other.'

The brunette bit his lip; as much as he hated to admit it, the other had a very valid point.

'So you're justifying yourself?' Izumi asked. 'By taking another's life.'

'One life is always equal to another in the world's balance,' the sin replied. 'But I didn't come here to play games with fools.' He turned his head, Kouichi's really, to look at Kouji. 'I don't feel like dealing with you again.'

'What does he mean again?' Tomoki whispered, but no-one got the chance to reply as the other deftly shoved the warrior of light into the danger zone.

'_Sayanora...ototo-chan_.' And with that, he pushed solidly, causing the other to inevitably fall off the level ground with no barrier between the air and water.

The brief interlude had given Kouji a few sparse seconds to react however. The instinct of survival was always strongest in animals, and humans were no exception. And so it was that his hand shot out to grave the other's wrist, causing him to be dragged forward with the additional weight pitching them both over the edge.

The others would have screamed...if they weren't petrified. And above them, the sun shone on the horizon as it set, the creeping night sky shedding the last rays of light in the water with ripples spreading from the epicentre of that light, as the beginning of purple stars began to fly in the mind's eye.

* * *

**Post author's notes**

Before I go on to the epilogue, I want to make a note on my structure. If you've read this as an ordered story, you'd realise that it is rather disjointed, some parts more than others. That's on purpose, so no complaining. Life isn't as ordered as everything is answered by the last chapter. We're in a modern world after all. Things don't always make sense. They relatively tie together by the end of the sequel, but there will still be things floating around that have no beginning and no end, and things that aren't necessarily linking to other aspects while they appear to. I tend to leave open ends in my writing...I don't think it's too substantial though. The main points in my view are explained, if not in the actual text, then in notes preceding or succeeding it.


	16. Epilogue

And...that's it. This fic is finished. It took a year and a quarter too...longer than I had expected. But there you go; I tend to get distracted by other ideas.

Thank you to everyone for sticking through this and the irregular updates. Don't forget to drop a comment and tell me what you think once your done. I want to know what you got out of all that philosophical waffle that slipped in. Anyone agree? Disagree? Couldn't really care less? Anything?**  
**

**Chapters remaining after this: **0

**Up next:** The sequel...check the post note

Enjoy.

* * *

**Butterflies' Flight**

AU. Like butterflies, they followed the flame, drawn to his light, despite that fact that following so blindly could potentially lead to corruption. And yet they shy away from the dark, the one thing that may save them yet...

Takuya K & Kouichi K

* * *

**16 – Epilogue**

The water was entrapping; icy cold, strong and with a dragging force that quickly sapped his strength. But he fought against that. Against the icy claws that threatened to drag them both down, clutching his unconscious brother, hoping almost against hope (or a fool's hope as he called it) that wrath was gone from the fall, hoping that Takuya and Junpei were right and that his brother still loved, and hoping that they would both get out of this situation so that hope could be rectified...or crushed.

Three minutes was all he could hold his breath for. Luckily, or perhaps there was an unseen force helping him, he managed to pull them both up to the surface within two and a half...but the force of water dragging him back down was a temptation too great to resist; he was exhausted. His grip was slipping. He was swimming for now...barely. His head just wouldn't stay above the water.

Before he slipped completely, someone was dragging him...Izumi actually, and as embarrassing as it was to be dragged like that by a girl, he let her. He was just too tired and cold.

But he had to make sure of one thing first.

And Izumi seemed to know that. 'Takuya and Junpei have him,' she whispered, setting him down at the safest edge of the embankment and stepping back so the medics, having gotten there so promptly thanks to Tomoki's cell phone, could wrap him up warmly and check him over for any injuries.

'Is he okay?' he asked, feeling starting to slowly crawl back as he followed instructions to move his body, finger and toe at a time.

Izumi said nothing...but the sudden sound of hacking coughs answered the question for him.

* * *

The paramedics took the unmoving boy from the other two, shooing them away, and so they rendezvoused a short while away, close enough to see both twins clearly but far enough so as not to be in the way.

One man leaned forward, checking pulse, then tilting the head and rearranging the limbs and beginning with the motions of resuscitation. The onlookers held their breath after the first cycle...but it wasn't till a few minutes when results were yielded.

The eyes, blue, mercifully blue, shot open in something akin to shock, and water spluttered from his mouth and nose from the deep coughs as he attempted to expel the foreign fluid from his lungs. One hand twitched closer to his head as the medic helped him sit up, making the passageway for expulsion easier, closely examining the pupils dilated in pain, and the reddening area, a reminiscent scar of a head injury, heating under his touch.

The coughing fit subsided with a thin trail of blood stemming from his mouth, but the pain grew, and he closed his eyes with a whimper, breathing still too rapidly for comfort. The paramedic forced one open to examine closely, before gesturing for a stretcher.

'What hurts?' he asked, gently, yet firmly.

'Head,' the other gasps, voice thick and hoarse.

The medic frowned, examining the swollen area. 'Have you had a concussion before?'

'He has,' Junpei affirmed from a few feet away. 'About a month ago.'

The man nodded absent-mindedly, before fitting the oxygen mask that sat beside him. He had refrained from its use earlier, seeing as the coughing up of fluid rendered the contraption essentially useless.

'We'll need a CT,' he commented aloud, helping another place the boy on the stretcher with little resistance, the leader firing questions along the way, each answered shortly and briefly, but answered all the same.

The other, a woman, nodded to the command, before turning to the two huddled groups. 'Contact details?' she asked briskly.

Kouji relayed them, before pulling the blanket a little tighter. 'Is he okay?'

She thought for a moment. 'Seeing as he's still conscious and coherent, I believe so.' After all, many lost conscious in the first thirty or so seconds...and more than half of those never woke up. Hence where the myths of concussions arose, but those first few minutes were always the most crucial. As well as the twenty-four hours that followed. 'But we're taking him to the hospital for a more thorough prognosis.'

'Can we come too?'

'In the other van,' the one who had been checking him over replied. 'We wouldn't want you all to be in the way if something changes, but you'll need your parents to come and get you.'

The twelve year old nodded, knowing that was the best he was going to get. He hoped that this would be the end, that they could now live like a family split as theirs' was could.

But something beeped in his pocket, and his D-scanner slipped out of the folds.

'What's that?' the medic asked, curious. 'Those latest gadgets you kids are into?'

'Sure,' Tomoki answered, as all of them were distracted by their own D-scanners being set off.

The five showed the same symbol, glowing black as the ring around it showed white. Taking them back to the day they had received the message.

And Ophanimon was calling them again. In a voice only they could hear.

_This is a game to determine your future. Are you willing to play?_

* * *

_**The End**_

* * *

**Post Author's Notes**

Here's the info for the sequel.

**Achilles' Heel**

Sequel to Butterflies' Flight. It is a fatal weakness in humankind, an enemy they themselves created and fuelled with each step towards defeating evil. Because evil always exists; it cannot be defeated, as does much else...a broken balance needing repair.

Takuya K & Kouichi K

Genre/s: Drama/Friendship

Rating: T

Length: 16 chapters

First chapter: Prologue


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